When  I  Was  a  Boy 

IN  Palestine 


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WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN 
PALESTINE 


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WHEN   I   WAS    A   BOY   IN    CHINA 
By  Yan  Phou  Lee 

WHEN    I  WAS   A  GIRL    IN   ITALY 
By  Marietta  Ambrosi 

WHEN    I   WAS   A  BOY    IN    JAPAN 
By  Sakae  Shioya 

WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  GREECE 
By  George  Demetrios 

LOTHROP,   LEE  &   SHEPARD   CO. 
BOSTON 


WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY 
IN  PALESTINE 


BY 

MOUSA  J.   KALEEL 


ILLUSTRATED  FROM  PHOTOGRAPHS 


BOSTON 
LOTHROP,   LEE  &  SHEPARD   CO. 


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^.■-' 


Published,  March,  1914 


Copyright,  1914,  by  Lothrop,  Lee  &  Shepard  Co. 


All  Bights  Reserved 


When  I  Was  a  Boy  in  Palestine 


Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.  S.  A. 


TO  MY  PARENTS 

5iriud  anD  ilbitiam  Bbu^^fcaleel 


4281Gt> 


PUBLISHEES'   PEEFACE 

We  have  a  great  deal  of  interest  in  tlie 
personality  behind  each  one  of  the  *'  Chil- 
dren of  Other  Lands  Books/'  but  never 
more  than  in  that  of  the  stalwart  young 
man  who  has  placed  in  our  hands  this 
straightforward  account  of  his  boyhood  in 
the  Holy  Land. 

Mousa  J.  Kaleel  was  born  at  Ram  Allah, 
ten  miles  from  Jerusalem,  a  little  more 
than  twenty  years  ago.  An  older  brother, 
Jacob,  had  received  and  much  appreciated 
some  instruction  in  an  English  school,  and 
when  Professor  Elihu  Grrant,  now  of  Smith 
College,  opened  an  American  training 
school  in  his  native  village,  Jacob  inter- 
ceded for  his  younger  brothers  until  he 
secured  admission  for  Mousa. 

Professor  Grant's  experiences  were  ex- 
tremely interesting.     He  found  his  stu- 

3 


4  .  P^BLiSMmS'   PREFACE 

dents  quick  at  learning  the  Bible,  which 
was  written  near  their  homes  and  was 
their  country's  literature.  He  taught 
them  the  dignity  of  labor,  and  to  have 
respect  for  useful  knowledge  and  its  exer- 
cise in  any  worthy  form.  The  boys  proved 
responsive  to  moral  training,  and  organ- 
ized a  society  under  an  Arabic  name  that 
meant  the  ''  Against-Things-Harmful  So- 
ciety. ' '  They  had  to  discipline  one  another 
in  a  form  of  student  government,  and 
worked  off  many  rough  edges  in  matters 
of  conduct  and  character. 

After  this  Jacob  came  to  the  TJnited 
States,  and  found  means  with  which  to 
send  for  his  ambitious  brother.  Mousa 
was  placed  in  a  preparatory  school  and 
taught  to  earn  money  for  self-support. 
He  later  entered  Haverf ord  College,  where 
he  proved  himself  a  good  student,  besides 
entering  zealously  into  the  activities  of 
college.  He  played  a  good  game  of  foot- 
ball, and  was  the  strongest  man  there. 

Hard  study  in  a  language  not  originally 


PUBLISHERS'   PREFACE  5 

his  own,  however,  told  upon  his  eyesight, 
and  it  was  felt  best  that  temporarily,  at 
least,  he  should  engage  in  business.  He 
is  of  the  type  that  America  can  absorb 
with  profit,  and  will  be  heard  from. 

LoTHROP,  Lee  &  Shepaed  Company. 

Boston,  February,  1914. 


CONTENTS 

PAOX 

CHAPTER  I:   My  Boyhood       .       .       .       .  11 

CHAPTER  II:   Boys  and  Girls  at  Home     .  18 

CHAPTER  III:   My  Games  and  Playthings  29 

CHAPTER  IV:   My  Home,  and  the  Customs 

I  Knew 35 

CHAPTER  V:   At  School  in  Palestine       .  49 

CHAPTER  VI:   A  Visit  to  Jerusalem  .       .  66 

CHAPTER  VII:   A  Wedding  in  Palestine  .  82 

CHAPTER  VIII:   Plant  Life  op  the  Holy 

Land 90 

CHAPTER  IX:   My  Race  and  My  Mother 

Tongue 95 

CHAPTER  X:   The  Rulers  of  Palestine    .  112 

CHAPTER  XI:   The  Religions  in  Palestine  121 

CHAPTER  XII:   Reminders  of  Bible  Times  136 

CHAPTER  XIII:   My  Impressions  of  Amer- 
ica      148 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

MousA  J.  Kaleel Frontispiece 

facing  page 

Ram  Allah 12 

Cousins  on  the  Way  to  School      ...  20 

Syrian  Blindman's  Buff 32 

A  Village  Oven 36 

The  Boy's  Day  for  a  Bath      ....  42 

Chums  in  the  American  School      ...  50 

A  Palestine  Woman's  Morning  Work  .       .  58 

From  Ram  Allah  to  Jerusalem       .       .       .  74 

A  Typical  Christian  Family  of  Palestine  .  122 

At  an  American  School  in  Palestine  .       .  128 

Harvesters 140 


Boy  in  Palestine 


WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY 
IN  PALESTINE 

CHAPTER   I 

MY   BOYHOOD 

It  is  not  so  very  long  since  I  was  a  boy  in 
Palestine.  I  was  born  in  Ram  Allah,  Pal- 
estine, in  the  year  1892.  I  left  my  home 
country  at  the  age  of  sixteen  to  come  to  the 
United  States.  You  can  easily  see,  there- 
fore, that  I  spent  only  my  boyhood  in  this 
old-world  land. 

My  birth  was  welcome  news  to  my  fa- 
ther, and  the  woman  who  told  it  received 
as  reward  a  large  silver  coin.  In  most 
Oriental  countries,  particularly  in  Pales- 
tine, a  boy  is  always  prized  more  than  a 
girl ;  and  the  minute  the  boy-baby  is  born, 
a  mad  scramble  is  started  by  the  women 
11 


12      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

attendants  to  reach  the  father  first  and 
thus  win  the  prize  money.  The  natural  di- 
vision of  the  people  into  clans  causes  this 
desire  for  boy  children.  Boys  grow  into 
men,  who  not  only  strengthen  the  tribe, 
but  also  increase  the  earning  capacity  of 
the  family ;  while  girls  marry  after  attain- 
ing maturity,  and  become  members  of  their 
husbands '  tribes  and  families.  Arab  chiefs 
in  the  past  have  been  known  to  bury  their 
baby  daughters  alive  at  birth,  fearing  that 
in  the  future  they  might  be  captured  by 
the  enemy,  and  thus  their  fathers  be  dis- 
graced. Although  this  relic  of  savagery 
has  long  been  abolished,  to  this  day  a 
father  who  has  only  female  children  is  con- 
sidered, by  himself  and  others,  a  most 
unfortunate  man. 

After  hearing  the  news  of  my  birth,  my 
father  had  to  furnish  refreshments  to  all 
who  were  present.  The  men  guests  were 
served  the  usual  coffee,  while  women  and 
children  were  given  candy  and  cucumbers, 
the  latter  being  in  season  at  the  time. 


k 


MY  BOYHOOD  13 

No  doctor  attends  the  birth  of  a  baby 
in  Palestine.  A  nurse,  usually  a  very  old 
and  experienced  woman,  is  called,  and  she 
takes  full  command.  Her  absolute  control 
continues  until  the  mother  is  well  enough 
to  have  the  care  of  her  child,  and  woe  be- 
fall the  poor  individual  who  tries  to  pass 
a  suggestion  or  make  a  comment  while  the 
nurse  is  performing  her  duty!  No  pow- 
der, but  red  soil,  and  often  salt,  is  used 
on  the  baby.  If,  upon  arrival,  the  baby  is 
weak  and  inactive,  its  nose  is  rubbed  with 
a  strong  onion,  and  the  sneeze  of  life  usu- 
ally responds.  My  grandmother  used  to 
say  that  I  would  never  have  lived,  if  it 
had  not  been  for  the  quickening  perfumes 
of  the  onion. 

When  I  was  strong  enough  for  it,  I  was 
baptized.  This  was  done,  according  to 
custom,  by  immersing  me  three  successive 
times  in  cold  water  prepared  with  oil  and 
blessed  by  the  priest.  I  was  not  drowned, 
so  the  priest  delivered  me  to  my  god- 
father, whose  duty  it  was  to  watch  over 


14      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

me  while  a  boy  and  guard  my  spiritual 
life,  and,  when  I  became  a  man,  to  induce 
me  to  join  the  church  of  my  baptism,  thus 
giving  back  to  the  church  the  charge  re- 
ceived from  it. 

Baptism  is  a  time  for  celebration.  It 
was  then  I  became  a  distinct  individual 
with  a  name.  They  called  me  **  Mousa," 
which  means  *'  saved  from  the  bulrushes." 
The  practice  of  using  Biblical  names  is 
very  common  among  the  Christians  in  Pal- 
estine. In  many  cases  the  name  of  a  boy 
suggests  the  name  of  a  newly  born  brother. 
I  know  of  a  family  where  all  of  Christ's 
twelve  disciples,  with  the  exception  of 
Judas,  are  represented  in  name.  This  is 
due  to  the  common  belief  that  these  saints 
will  watch  over  their  namesakes. 

The  celebrations  consisted,  as  most  of 
our  celebrations  do,  in  eating  and  singing, 
or  rather  shouting,  the  men  enjoying  the 
former  and  the  women  reveling  in  the 
latter.  Both,  however,  joined  in  making 
gifts,  which  consisted  mostly  of  hand-made 


MY  BOYHOOD  16 

baby  clothes.  This  was  my  only  celebra- 
tion and  the  last  sign  of  my  popularity. 
Henceforth  I  was  either  a  noisy  baby  or 
a  mischievous  child. 

As  a  baby,  that  is,  during  the  years 
before  I  started  going  to  school,  I  had 
many  playthings.  There  was  a  large, 
nicely  painted,  hollow  rubber  ball,  which 
I  valued  greatly  because  it  came  from 
Jerusalem.  Then  I  had  a  little  pistol,  a 
home-made  reed  whistle,  and  marbles.  My 
most  valued  plaything  was  a  horse  I  tried 
to  make  of  wood  and  clay,  which  never  was 
strong  enough  for  my  weight.  Another 
thing  I  enjoyed  was  the  hammock-like 
swing.  When  I  cried,  my  mother  swung 
me  in  it  to  dizziness  and  sleep,  which  nat- 
urally made  me  stop  crying.  This  swing- 
ing is  usually  the  cure  for  crying,  but  I 
often  cried  to  get  it.  My  first  recollection 
is  of  a  lullaby  song  which  my  mother  used 
to  sing  to  me.  Among  other  things  the 
song  contained  a  simile  likening  my  eyes 
to  those  of  a  gazelle.    I  had  never  seen 


16      WHEN  I  WA8  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

a  gazelle,  but  I  did  see  a  horse  with  large, 
clear  eyes,  so,  not  wishing  to  take  a  chance 
on  the  brightness  of  the  unknown,  I  made 
my  mother  substitute  the  horse  for  the 
gazelle. 

Another  early  recollection  is  being  stung 
by  a  scorpion.  I  was  playing  building  a 
house,  when  the  poisonous  thing  bit  me  on 
the  toe.  The  pain  was  terrible.  My  fa- 
ther wanted  to  take  me  to  a  doctor,  but  my 
old  grandmother  scoffed  at  the  idea.  She 
brought  a  ring  which  had  magic  in  it,  and 
placed  it  on  the  painful  toe.  I  could  tell 
by  the  moving  of  her  lips  that  she  was 
repeating  some  sayings,  and  in  a  short 
time  the  pain  stopped. 

My  first  trial  was  great.  I  had  a  baby 
brother,  and  he  usurped  my  pla^rthings, 
one  by  one.  He  began  with  the  most  dear, 
the  swing,  and  later  on  he  took  the  rest. 
I  was  not  as  dejected  as  you  might  think, 
for  I  had  already  begun  to  find  interesting 
things  outside  the  house  and  in  the  garden. 
I  had  grown  to  an  appreciation  of  punish- 


MY  BOYHOOD  17 

ment,  and  had  to  do  my  dodging  to  keep 
away  from  school.  I  was  not  very  suc- 
cessful, however,  for  I  had  an  older 
brother  who  was  faithful  to  his  task  of 
seeing  me  go  through  the  trials  and  tribu- 
lations that  he  had  had  to  go  through  when 
he  was  young.  He  was  ten  years  older 
than  I,  and  there  was  no  feeling  of  com- 
radeship between  us,  so  I  bitterly  resented 
his  seemingly  uncalled-for  diligence. 


CHAPTER  II 

BOYS   AND    GIKLS   AT   HOME 

"That  our  sons  may  be  as  plants  grown  up  in 
their  youth; 

That  our  daughters  may  be  as  corner-stones,  pol- 
ished after  the  similitude  of  a  palace." 

—  Psalms,  cxliv :  12. 

This  is  an  old,  old  saying,  but  it  still  de- 
scribes the  ideal  child  of  Palestine,  The 
period  of  boyhood  or  girlhood  is  shorter 
in  Palestine  than  in  the  United  States,  but 
often  merry.  Children  are  the  rulers  of 
most  houses  in  the  country  villages.  If 
they  are  well,  they  run  in  and  out  in  all 
kinds  of  weather,  barefooted  and  bare- 
headed. If  they  are  not  well,  not  over- 
much attention  is  paid  to  them  at  first,  ex- 
cept to  bring  them  dainties  to  eat.  If  the 
illness  turns  out  to  be  genuine,  however, 
all  the  medical  help  within  reach  is  sum- 
18 


BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT  HOME        19 

moned,  but  if,  as  usually  happens  to  be 
the  case,  dread  of  the  schoolmaster's  stick 
is  at  the  bottom,  they  soon  recover  when 
their  mothers  take  them  to  school  and 
make  matters  all  right  with  the  teacher. 

The  poorer  children  are  seldom  both- 
ered with  more  than  one  garment,  except 
sometimes  a  skull-cap.  If  the  parents  can 
afford  it,  they  provide  a  little  cloth  cap 
embroidered  with  colored  silk  and  with  a 
few  bangles  of  blue  beads  sewed  on  the 
front.  The  beads  serve  the  purpose  of 
protecting  the  child  against  what  is  called 
the  *  *  Ayen, ' '  or  eye.  The  tradition  is  that 
God  will  take  the  choicest  boys,  especially 
if  they  are  admired  by  onlookers,  so  the 
blue  beads  are  provided  to  counteract  any 
wicked  looks  the  child  may  encounter.  To 
protect  the  child  against  evil  spirits,  his 
guardians  provide  him  with  a  small 
leather  purse  that  has  some  texts  from  the 
Bible  or  the  Koran,  as  the  case  may  be, 
written  on  it.  As  the  boy  grows  older,  he 
may  be  given  a  jacket  to  wear  over  the 


20      \YEEN  I  ^YAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

little  shirt.  The  girls  have  a  little  shawl 
to  wrap  around  their  shoulders  and  a  row 
of  coins  on  their  head-dresses. 

When  very  little,  boys  and  girls  play 
together  in  the  streets  and  around  the 
ovens,  sometimes  even  on  roofs.  By  the 
time  they  are  six,  however,  they  separate 
and  play  with  their  own  kind  and  choose 
different  games.  The  boys  become  wild  in 
their  play,  while  the  girls  begin  to  help 
around  the  home. 

Here  is  an  impression  of  the  children 
in  Palestine,  given  by  an  early  traveller. 

**  From  earliest  infancy  they  are 
brought  up  in  utter  ignorance;  they  are 
never  children;  the  merry  laughter  and 
sports  of  European  childhood  are  here 
quite  unknown.  At  three  years  they  are 
little  men  and  women  with  wonderful 
aplomb.  Tiny  tots  scarcely  able  to  toddle 
may  be  seen  gathering  khobbayzeh  (wild 
mallows)  for  the  evening  meal,  and,  when 
they  have  filled  the  skirts  of  their  one  wee 


Cousins  on  the  "Way  to  School. 

The  twisted  cloth  girdle  and  the  long  tunic  are  often  worn  by  both 

men  and  women,  the  sleeves  only  being  cut  differently.    The 

little  girl  has  already  begun  to  wear  the  feminine 

head-dress  of  coins  mentioned  on  page  20. 


BOYS  AND    GIRLS  AT  HOME       21 

garment,  will  trot  home  as  sedately  as 
though  the  cares  of  life  were  already  press- 
ing heavily  on  their  shoulders.  I  have  sel- 
dom in  this  country  heard  a  genuine  laugh 
from  man,  woman,  or  child;  the  great 
struggle  for  existence  seems  to  have 
crushed  all  but  fictitious  mirth. 

*  *  The  fellaheen  boys  —  very  rarely  the 
girls  —  take  charge  of  the  flocks  and  herds 
till  they  are  old  enough  to  consider  them- 
selves men;  thus  exposed  to  all  weathers 
they  are  as  hardy  as  their  charge,  but  if 
one  is  attacked  by  sickness,  one  is  as  little 
cared  for  as  the  other,  and  chronic  coughs, 
fevers,  rheumatism,  and  ophthalmia  are 
the  consequent  results."  Further  on  he 
concludes : 

'*  The  fellaheen  (peasants)  are  all  in  all 
the  worst  type  of  humanity  that  I  have 
come  across  in  the  East."  Or  in  other 
words,  the  world. 

I  am  almost  tempted  to  charge  the  writer 
of  the  passage  with  writing  for  dramatic 


/ 


22      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

effect,  but  I  will  not.  He  may  be  sincere. 
A  tourist  who  sees  one  child  doing  a  certain 
thing  concludes  that  all  children  in  Pal- 
estine do  likewise.  It  is  not  an  uncommon 
thing,  however,  to  find  a  whole  family 
ruled  by  the  whims  of  a  little  child,  and 
loving  fathers  cannot  stand  against  the 
crying  of  their  children.  So  tender  are 
they  in  their  love  that  they  often  do  even 
ridiculous  things  to  please  their  children, 
such  as  letting  them  ride  on  their  backs. 
A  traveller  through  Palestine  may  see  a 
tiny  girl  helping  her  mother  in  her  play 
by  gathering  greens,  or  a  boy  living  with 
his  father's  flocks  when  they  go  up  in  the 
mountains  for  the  summer.  It  is  a  case 
of  preference  and  enjoyment  rather  than 
of  slavish  labor.  As  for  the  peasants  being 
the  worst  people  in  the  East,  the  writer 
of  the  passage  may  have  had  some  per- 
sonal experience  with  a  band  of  brigands. 
Later  on  in  his  work  he  fears  that  his 
sketch  *'  will  seem  over-colored,"  and 
cites,  as  an  added  proof  of  the  depravity 


BOYS   AND   GIRLS   AT   HOME        23 

of  the  people,  an  incident  of  being  abused 
in  ^'  the  most  scurrilous  language  "  by  the 
children ! 

Boys  in  Palestine,  I  must  admit,  are 
fighters,  and  are  taught  by  their  parents 
to  fight.  This  is  justified  by  the  internal 
conditions  of  the  country,  caused  by  a  very 
slack  and  weak  government.  The  boy  must 
grow  into  a  man  who  has  a  good  aim  with 
his  gun,  and  who  can  hurl  a  stone  a  great 
distance  with  accuracy.  It  is  a  semi- 
primitive  land,  and  men  have  to  live  ac- 
cordingly to  get  along  in  it.  The  people 
are  good  at  heart  and  often  blessed  with 
the  keenest  brains  in  the  world;  all  they 
need  is  some  gentle  leadership  that  will  be 
willing  to  come  down  to  their  ranks,  even 
below,  if  need  be,  and  lift  them  up  grad- 
ually. It  is  natural  that  they  should  resent 
any  '*  Khawaja  '^  (an  upper-class  for- 
eigner) trying  to  make  a  curiosity  of  them, 
continually  shooting  at  them  with  clicking 
cameras,  and  asking  insolent  and  prying 
questions  about  their  sanctuaries.    Many 


24      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

of  the  tourists  who  visit  Palestine  do  so 
from  a  desire  to  study  the  religious  cus- 
toms of  the  people  from  a  scientific  point 
of  view,  and  they  thoughtlessly  offend  the 
people  by  apparently  making  light  of  what 
are  very  sacred  things.  The  lowliest  peas- 
ant in  Palestine  is  vain,  and  the  tiniest  boy 
can  throw  a  stone.  With  these  as  acknowl- 
edged facts  let  the  missionary  and  inves- 
tigator work. 

The  children  spend  wintry  evenings  lis- 
tening to  tales,  usually  by  the  grand- 
mother, but  sometimes  by  the  mother. 
The  stories  are  mostly  all  like  the  **  Ara- 
bian Nights."  The  success  of  the  story 
does  not  always  depend  upon  thrilling 
events,  but  a  great  deal  upon  the  method  of 
the  story-teller.  A  well-told  story  is  punc- 
tuated with  wishes  and  exclamations.  It 
is  begun  by  wishing  the  well-being  of  the 
hearers  and  the  home.  When  a  death  is 
related,  the  teller  prays  God  to  preserve 
her  hearers  from  death,  and  when  the  hero 
attains  happiness,   she  wishes  happiness 


BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT  HOME       25 

for  her  listeners.  Often,  to  collect  his 
thoughts,  the  story-teller  begins  a  digres- 
sion by  saying,  *^  May  peace  remain  with 
you,''  continuing  to  gain  time  by  adding 
other  good  things,  **  and  health  and 
strength  and  wealth,"  etc. 

Thus  are  the  happy  evenings  spent  in 
winter  around  a  great  fireplace  filled  with 
crackling,  oily  olive  logs.  If  it  rains  hard, 
and  the  wind  blows  fiercely,  the  children 
chant  a  little  juvenile  song,  beginning  thus : 

"Umtree  wazadee  Baitna  adeedee." 

It  is  addressed  to  nature,  and  means, 
"  Eain  and  increase,  our  house  is  made  of 
iron." 

Those  who  do  not  farm  usually  say, 
**  Umtree  ala  ayn  Khazzan  kumheh," 
which  means  *^  Rain  to  the  spite  of  him 
who  stores  his  grain  (wheat)." 

This  is  a  sort  of  vindictive  expression 
against  the  man  who  hoards  his  grain,  an- 
ticipating a  scarcity  of  rain,  which  is  sure 
to   cause   higher   prices.     It   shows   that 


26      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

human  nature  is  the  same  the  world  over, 
and  that  '*  corners  ''  in  wheat  are  not  any- 
more popular  in  Palestine  than  in  the 
United  States. 

The  following  story  is  sometimes  told 
to  boys  to  check  their  foolhardiness  and 
warn  them  against  foolish  pride,  and  to 
induce  obedience  to  fathers: 

A  young  tiger  who  had  heard  about  the 
ability  of  men,  though  he  had  never  seen 
a  man,  felt  so  eager  in  his  strength  to  have 
a  combat  that  he  told  his  father  he  wanted 
to  go  out  and  find  a  man  and  have  a  fight 
with  him.  The  father  tiger,  advising 
against  such  an  undertaking,  said: 

**  Even  I,  who  am  older  and  stronger 
than  you,  should  not  think  of  seeking  a 
fight  with  a  man,  for  I  cannot  prevail 
against  him." 

But  the  young,  proud  tiger,  not  heeding 
his  father's  advice,  went  to  seek  a  man. 
He  journeyed  until  he  came  to  a  road  much 
frequented  by  travellers,  and  lay  down 
under  a  tree  to  await  the  foe.    While  wait- 


BOYS  AND   GIRLS  AT  HOME       27 

ing  there,  lie  saw  a  camel  running  down  the 
road,  although  loaded  heavily.  The  camel 
was  running  away  from  his  master.  The 
young,  inexperienced  tiger  got  up,  and 
said  to  the  camel : 

**  Are  you  a  man?  *^ 

'  *  I  am  not  a  man,  but  am  running  away 
from  one,  because  he  loads  such  heavy 
burdens  on  me, ' '  replied  the  camel. 

The  young  tiger  thought  to  himself: 
'*  How  strong  must  the  man  be  if  he  causes 
so  much  distress  and  fear  in  this  great 
creature. ' ' 

Next  passed  a  horse,  and  the  tiger 
thought,  '^  Maybe  this  is  the  man,''  but 
received  a  negative  reply  to  his  question 
as  he  had  from  the  camel.  Then  came 
along  a  weak  little  donkey,  loaded  with 
wood  and  driven  by  a  man.  The  tiger 
asked  his  question  of  the  man : 

**  Are  you  a  manf  " 

"  Yes,"  the  man  answered. 

Then  the  tiger  said,  **  I  have  come  to 
have  a  fight  with  you." 


28      WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

^^  All  right,"  said  the  man,  **  but  I  am 
not  quite  ready  now.  May  I  tie  you  with 
my  rope  to  the  tree  until  I  come  back?  *' 

The  tiger  allowed  the  man  to  tie  him, 
which  the  man  did  very  securely.  Then  he 
cut  a  strong,  thick  club  from  the  tree,  and 
began  to  beat  the  tiger  with  it. 

**  Oh,  please  let  me  go!  "  the  tiger  cried 
out  in  pain.  **  I'll  never  try  to  fight  with 
a  man  again." 

So  the  man  let  him  go,  and  the  young 
tiger  went  to  his  father  and  told  his  ex- 
perience. 


CHAPTER  III 

MY   GAMES   AND   PLAYTHINGS 

The  thing  that  I  wanted  to  own  after  I 
began  to  go  out-doors  was  a  sling, 
**  mikla,"  for  throwing  stones.  It  con- 
sists of  a  woven,  palm-like  receptacle  into 
which  the  stone  is  put.  To  both  ends  of 
this  are  attached  strong  cords,  and  in  the 
end  of  one  of  the  cords  is  a  loop  large 
enough  to  slip  over  a  finger.  First  the 
boy  puts  a  stone  into  the  '*  pan  "  of  the 
sling,  and  then  slips  his  finger  into  the 
loop.  Grasping  both  cords  in  his  hands, 
he  swings  the  **  mikla  "  violently  over  his 
head,  just  as  they  throw  the  hammer  in 
athletic  meets  in  this  country.  Then  he 
lets  one  cord  loose,  and  away  goes  the 
stone,  whizzing  like  a  bullet.    By  practice 

29 


30      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

a  true  aim  may  be  developed.  You  prob- 
ably remember  that  David  killed  Groliath 
with  one  of  these  slings. 

Another  one  of  our  pastimes  was  a  game 
played  with  pegs  of  wood  very  much  like 
the  American  game  ^'  Peggy/'  in  which 
one  strikes  a  double-pointed  peg  on  one 
end  with  a  stick,  and  tries  to  gain  ground 
over  an  opponent.  A  similar  game  is 
played  upon  a  soft,  spongy  spot  of  ground 
with  longer  pegs  sharpened  on  one  end 
only.  It  is  something  like  *^  Stick-knife." 
The  object  is  to  drive  the  peg  by  a  throw 
into  the  soft  space  in  the  ground  in  such 
a  way  as  to  dislodge  an  opponent's  pegs, 
previously  thrown,  and  to  make  your  peg 
stick  in  the  same  place.  When  this  is  done, 
a  peg  is  gained.  The  boys  hoard  these 
pegs  to  help  with  the  cooking  of  **  Bar- 
bara,'' the  principal  dish  served  at  the 
feast  of  Saint  Barbara,  and  named,  as  you 
see,  in  her  honor.  It  is  plain  boiled  wheat 
sweetened  with  sugar  and  mixed  with  pom- 
egranate seeds.    This  feast  is  the  first  one 


MY  GAMES  AND  PLAYTHINGS      31 

after  Christmas,  and  it  helps  to  make  the 
winter  enjoyable. 

The  game  most  enjoyed  by  ns  boys  was 
*^  Alam/'  which  is  very  similar  to  the 
American  game  of  *^  Eoll  the  bat.''  The 
boys  divide  into  two  even  teams.  A  flip 
of  the  coin  decides  who  shall  take  the  field 
and  who  shall  bat.  When  the  two  sides 
have  taken  their  places,  the  first  player  at 
the  bat  sets  np  a  stone  marker  (alam). 
He  starts  the  play  by  saying,  '*  Hadoor," 
which  means  **  ready,"  and  then  begins 
batting  the  ball  in  a  series  of  different 
ways,  —  first  overhand,  then  underhand, 
now  facing  his  opponents,  now  turning  his 
back  to  them.  The  last  of  the  series  is 
the  one  I  best  remember.  In  it  the  player 
drops  the  ball  and  kicks  it.  The  team  that 
takes  the  field  scatters  to  various  points 
of  vantage.  If  the  ball  is  caught  '*  on  the 
fly,"  the  batter  is  out,  otherwise  the  first 
boy  to  get  the  ball  takes  aim  at  the  stone 
marker,  saying  '*  Dustur  "  (*'  By  your 
leave  "),  and  makes  the  throw,  trying  to 


32      WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

upset  the  stone.  If  he  succeeds,  the  batter 
is  out,  and  his  side  takes  the  field.  This 
is  continued  until  one  team  runs  up  the 
whole  series,  and  so  is  victorious. 

Another  lively  game  we  played  was 
''  Deeb,''  or  ''  .Wolf.^'  First  we  formed 
a  circle  by  joining  hands,  and  played  we 
were  the  sheep.  Then  we  danced  round 
and  round  while  one  boy  outside  the  circle, 
who  called  himself  '^  wolf,"  kept  trying  to 
snatch  one  of  the  sheep.  Whenever  a  boy 
in  the  dancing  circle  came  anywhere  near 
the  hovering  wolf,  he  let  fly  his  heels,  like 
a  mule,  to  prevent  capture.  As  sheep  after 
sheep  was  snatched  successfully  by  the 
wolf,  the  circle  grew  smaller,  until  but  one 
was  left,  who  had  to  be  the  wolf  of  the 
next  game. 

For  our  most  common  playgrounds  we 
had  the  threshing-floors,  and  often  the 
vineyards  and  gardens.  We  played  many 
games  of  other  countries,  such  as  marbles, 
**  Duck-on-the-rock, "  '*  See-saw,"  swing- 
ing,  "  Blindman's   Buff,"  ''  Leap-frog," 


^  _ 


MY  GAMES  AND  PLAYTHINGS      33 

and  **  Hide-and-seek.''  A  variation  of  the 
last  named  was  **  Khurrak/'  For  this 
game  the  whole  town  and  surrounding 
country  was  our  field.  The  boys  were 
divided  into  two  teams.  One  team  prom- 
ised to  remain  at  a  certain  place,  usually 
a  door,  which  would  be  the  goal.  The 
other  team  went  off  to  hide.  When  a 
stated  time  was  up,  the  guarding  team 
divided  itself  into  parties  to  look  for  the 
other  team.  The  object  was  to  get  to  the 
goal  without  being  seen  by  the  guarding 
team.  We  usually  played  the  game  in  the 
dark,  and  we  did  a  great  deal  of  running. 
One  of  the  games  we  used  to  play  in  the 
vineyards  was  to  take  a  cap  and  hide  it 
under  some  rock,  and  then  go  looking  for 
it.  We  also  used  to  fly  kites.  Another 
game  we  played  often  was  what  we  called 
**  Germany."  The  boys  divided  into  two 
teams,  each  taking  the  end  of  a  rectangular 
field  like  a  football  field.  Each  team  lined 
up  in  the  middle  of  the  opposite  ends  of 
the  field.    Ten  yards  from  each  end  was 


34      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

an  imaginary  line  known  as  the  captives' 
line.  When  they  were  ready  to  play,  one 
boy  would  run  in  the  direction  of  his  op- 
ponents, until  he  came  near  the  captives' 
line.  Then  he  was  pursued.  If  he  was 
overtaken  and  touched,  he  became  a  pris- 
oner; if  not,  one  of  his  side  chased  his 
pursuer  back.  This  play  was  kept  up 
until  all  of  one  team  were  captured. 

Some  of  the  modern  games,  such  as  foot- 
ball, are  played  as  they  are  played  in 
England,  and  the  boys  of  Palestine,  who 
possess  a  very  keen  sense  of  rivalry  and 
competition,  are  becoming  proficient  play- 
ers even  at  these  foreign  games.  Many 
times  a  team  of  picked  Englishmen  is 
forced  to  taste  defeat  at  the  hands  of  a 
native  team  in  such  games  as  cricket  and 
football. 


CHAPTEE   IV 


Houses  in  Palestine  are  usually  built  en- 
tirely of  square  stones.  These  houses  are 
from  seven  to  twelve  meters  (nine  to  four- 
teen yards)  square,  and  generally  of  the 
same  height.  In  other  words,  they  are 
perfect  cubes.  A  house  is  divided  inside 
into  two  apartments,  a  lower  and  an  up- 
per one;  in  the  lower  one  the  chickens 
and  other  pets  of  the  family  stay,  in  the 
upper  one  live  the  people.  The  door  is 
large,  and  is  bordered  by  the  most  massive 
of  the  stones ;  the  long  one  over  the  door 
extends  even  further  than  from  one  side 
of  the  door  to  the  other.  Each  house  has 
from  one  to  three  windows.  These  are 
very  much  like  the  door,  only  a  little 
smaller.  They  have  strong  iron  bars 
across  them  to  keep  out  burglars,  but 
35 


36      ^YEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

these  bars  are  rather  far  apart,  so  that 
many  times  when  I  have  found  the  door 
closed,  I  have  gone  through  the  window. 
The  most  conspicuous  piece  of  furniture 
in  the  house  is  the  van,  a  large  store-box 
made  out  of  hardened  clay.  In  it  may 
be  found  the  provisions  of  the  family,  for 
the  most  part  grain  and  dried  fruits,  such 
as  figs  and  raisins.  In  one  of  the  corners 
of  the  apartment  is  a  large  jar  for  drink- 
ing-water with  a  cover  and  a  dipper, — 
all  made  of  the  same  material,  baked  clay. 
The  people  take  much  pride  in  these  jars, 
and  many  fantastic  and  grotesque  designs 
may  be  seen  painted  on  them.  In  another 
comer  of  the  house  is  another  jar  of  the 
same  size  as  the  water  jar,  but  older- 
looking  and  a  bit  heavier.  In  this  the  olive 
oil  is  stored. 

The  rest  of  the  furniture  consists  of  a 
large  mat  on  the  floor  and  many  mat- 
tresses and  quilts  that  are  neatly  folded 
and  placed  on  boxes.  Near  these  is  the 
mill,   a  simple   contrivance   for   grinding 


MY  HOME  37 

wheat.  It  is  made  of  two  flat,  circular 
stones  with  a  hole  in  the  center  of  the  top 
one.  This  hole  fits  over  an  iron  bar  which 
is  fixed  in  the  lower  stone,  and  which 
serves  as  the  axis  for  the  grinding.  The 
sound  of  the  grinding  is  very  weird  and 
serves  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  sing- 
ing of  the  women  grinders.  Grinding  is 
quite  an  institution,  and  may  be  heard  as 
early  as  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It 
is  while  grinding  that  the  women  mourn 
their  dead,  or  other  past  troubles,  or  sing 
of  future  hopes  and  successes.  These 
songs  are  inspiring  to  both  men  and 
women,  but  to  boys  and  girls  they  have 
a  soothing  effect,  and  the  monotonous  con- 
stancy of  the  sound  drowns  all  the  world 
with  its  noises,  and  promotes  peaceful  and 
prolonged  sleep. 

In  a  two-room  house,  one  room  serves  as 
the  kitchen  and  the  women's  apartment, 
and  the  other  as  the  place  for  entertain- 
ment, where  the  men  sit,  eat,  and  chat  to- 
gether.   It  is  in  this  room  that  the  cere- 


38      WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

mony  of  drinking  coffee  is  held.  The  men 
sit  cross-legged  upon  the  floor,  while  the 
owner  of  the  house  and  his  wife  prepare 
the  coffee.  This  is  usually  the  method  in 
the  presence  of  guests.  They  roast  green 
coffee  berries  in  a  long-handled  iron  ladle 
over  coals  burning  in  a  clay  brazier.  Then 
they  put  the  roasted  berries  into  a  wooden 
mortar,  and  pound  them  with  a  long  stick 
that  resembles  a  baseball  bat.  The  man 
who  does  the  pounding  must  have,  besides 
the  manual  skill,  a  fine  sense  of  music.  He 
usually  makes  tunes  resembling  those  ob- 
tainable from  a  drum. 

The  odor  of  the  coffee  is  very  pleasant. 
When  the  man  has  ground  it  quite  fine,  his 
wife  puts  it  in  a  tin  pot  with  a  long  handle. 
Wealthy  families  generally  use  pots  of 
brass.  The  coffee  is  allowed  to  cook  over 
the  brazier  until  it  boils  up  in  the  pot  sev- 
eral times,  before  it  is  ready  to  be  served. 
It  is  not  strained. 

Coffee  is  served  in  tiny  cups  (^*  fin- 
jan  '^)y  of  which  there  are  usually  no  more 


MY  HOME  39 

than  two  in  the  family.  The  cups  have 
no  handles,  and  are  not  washed  after  each 
man  drinks.  Sugar  is  not  commonly  used, 
except  for  boys,  cream  or  milk  never.  The 
order  of  serving  is  to  begin  with  the  oldest 
man  in  the  company  and  so  on  down  to 
the  youngest,  and  then  the  host.  This 
order  is  adhered  to  most  rigidly.  After 
coffee  comes  good-natured  talk  on  general 
matters  that  savor  of  comfort  and  good- 
will. There  is  a  tradition  that  a  full  cup 
of  coffee  is  a  sign  of  enmity,  so  the  cups 
are  not  filled,  and  a  small  pot  is  enough 
for  a  surprising  number.  The  coffee,  how- 
ever, is  the  most  delicious  of  beverages, 
and  the  usual  noisy  sip  with  which  it  is 
drawn  into  the  mouth  is  a  sign  of  the 
drinker's  satisfaction  with  the  quality.  So 
you  see  that  coffee-drinking  for  the  men 
serves  the  same  purpose  that  grinding 
does  for  women.  It  gives  them  a  very 
enviable  poise. 

When  eating,  most  of  the  country  people 
sit  in   a   squatting  posture  on  the  floor 


40      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

around  a  common  disli,  which  is  usually 
very  large  and  carved  out  of  a  log.  Hands 
and  spoon  are  hoth  used.  If  the  meal  is 
eaten  out-of-doors,  passers-by  are  usually 
invited.  It  never  happens  that  anybody 
present  with  the  family  at  meal-time  does 
not  partake  of  the  meal.  In  fact,  he  is 
almost  forced  to  eat,  and  a  refusal  on  his 
part  is  taken  as  a  sign  of  coolness  toward 
the  family. 

The  first  meal  of  the  day  is  a  light  one, 
and  is  not  eaten  until  the  middle  of  the 
forenoon.  It  is  very  informal,  and  each 
member  may  eat  whenever  he  or  she  is 
ready.  Olives,  olive  oil,  preserved  fruits, 
and  bread  make  up  the  breakfast  of  most 
families.  In  season,  however,  grapes  and 
figs,  with  the  sparkling  dew  still  on  them, 
are  served  daily.  Fresh  grapes  may  be 
had  at  all  hours  of  the  day  for  the  picking, 
as  the  vineyards  are  seldom  far  away. 
Each  family  owns  its  vineyard,  and  most 
families  own  orchards  of  fig  and  other 
fruit  trees.     The  second  meal  is  served 


MY   HOME  41 

at  noon  or  a  little  after,  but  tlie  evening 
meal  is  the  heartiest,  because  there  is  usu- 
ally something  cooked.  Meat  is  a  luxury 
seldom  enjoyed,  proving  that  it  is  not 
essential. 

Early  in  the  morning  the  head  of  the 
family  and  the  other  male  members  go 
to  work.  The  women  do  the  household 
work,  while  the  children  do  the  **  run- 
ning "  for  the  family.  By  this  I  mean 
running  errands  and  doing  other  light 
work,  such  as  carrying  food  to  men  work- 
ing at  a  distance.  In  the  summer  time, 
after  harvesting  and  storing  the  grain,  the 
vineyard  season  begins.  The  children 
spend  most  of  their  time  in  the  vineyards, 
sleeping  at  night  in  little  booths  on  top 
of  the  guard-houses.  Many  times  I  have 
slept  under  the  blue  sky,  which  is  much 
more  beautiful  in  Palestine  than  any  sky 
elsewhere,  because  it  is  clearer  and  seems 
to  have  more  stars.  One  can  watch  them- 
moving.  There  are  old  men  who,  even 
though  illiterate,  can  tell  the  time  of  night 


42      WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

very  closely  by  watching  the  positions  of 
the  stars,  and  who  can  call  many  of  them 
by  name.  In  the  morning  we  used  to  find 
the  bed-clothing  soaked  with  dew.  The 
grapes,  of  course,  are  all  the  more  deli- 
cious when  covered  with  dew,  and  many 
times  when  I  woke  in  the  morning  did  I 
reach  after  them. 

The  children  spend  the  day  playing 
games  and  eating  grapes,  and  where  there 
are  fig  trees,  they  set  little  traps  for  birds. 
These  traps  are  very  simple.  First  they 
bore  a  hole  about  five  inches  from  one  end 
of  a  stick;  then  they  make  the  stick  firm, 
tying  it  to  a  branch,  while  through  the  hole 
they  pass  a  loop  of  string,  tying  one  end 
of  it  to  a  bent  bough.  Finally  they  put  a 
small  twig  whittled  like  a  pencil  into  the 
hole,  securely  enough  to  hold  the  string 
which  is  looped  over  it,  but  not  enough  to 
stand  any  weight.  On  the  top  end  of  this 
whittled  stick  they  place  an  open  red  fig, 
which  is  usually  an  irresistible  attraction 
for  birds.    The  bird  wants  the  ^g,  and  as 


The  Boy's  Day  for  a  Bath. 

Tlie  Oriental  does  not  like  to  remain  in  a  tub  of  water,  and  so  water 

is  poured  over  the  sitting  bather.    Water  is  so  scarce  that 

bathing  is  an  expensive  luxury. 


MY   HOME  43 

all  the  otlier  near-by  twigs  liave  been  cut 
away,  there  is  no  other  place  on  which  to 
stand  except  the  prepared  twig.  The 
bird's  weight  pushes  down  the  twig,  and 
the  loop  attached  to  the  bent  bough  encir- 
cles its  tiny  feet.  As  many  as  five  birds 
may  be  caught  in  one  trap  in  a  day. 

Having  no  pictures  or  books,  we  boys 
had  to  do  something  for  a  diversion  from 
the  rest  of  our  games.  Old  folk,  wanting 
something  to  do,  stir  up  an  argument,  and 
talk.  We  followed  their  example.  We 
started  arguments,  only  instead  of  talking 
we  acted.  Many  a  time  we  gathered  our 
forces,  —  all  the  boys  in  the  neighboring 
vineyards,  —  and  proceeded  to  make  war 
against  boys  in  other  neighborhoods.  Our 
arms  were  oak  clubs,  smooth  and  worn 
with  use,  a  few  picked  stones,  and  a  sling. 
Thus  armed  we  attacked.  Our  first  act 
was  to  start  a  disagreement  by  willfully 
trespassing,  and  taking  grapes  from  their 
vineyards.  They  naturally  resented  our 
intrusion,  and  failing  to  get  an  excuse  for 


44      WHEN  I  WA8  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

our  action,  combat  would  ensue.  First 
came  a  hand-to-hand,  or  rather,  a  fist-to- 
face  affair,  which  continued  until  one  side 
began  to  get  the  better  of  it.  Then  some 
of  the  defeated  side  would  draw  off  a  little 
and  begin  throwing  stones.  Their  sure 
aims  soon  would  begin  to  tell,  and  the  boys 
on  the  offensive  would  disperse,  and  take 
up  stone-throwing,  both  with  the  hand  and 
with  the  slings,  thus  covering  their  retreat 
and  preventing  annihilation.  We  fought 
with  stones  as  you  do  with  snowballs,  and 
very  seldom  inflicted  any  more  damage 
with  our  weapons. 

One  of  the  games  we  used  to  play  in  the 
heat  of  the  day,  when  we  naturally  were 
more  inclined  to  rest,  was  what  we  called 
**  Missrameh.''  There  could  be  any  num- 
ber of  contestants.  The  loose  soil  was 
smoothed  and  a  circle  marked  on  it,  vary- 
ing in  size  with  the  number  of  those  wish- 
ing to  play,  then  holes  about  four  inches 
in  diameter  were  dug  in  the  circle.  These 
were  divided  evenly  among  the  players, 


MY  HOME  45 

not  less,  however,  than  three  holes  to  each. 
To  begin  with,  seven  grapes  were  placed 
in  each  hole.  The  game  started  by  a  player 
taking  all  the  grapes  out  of  one  of  the 
holes,  and  putting  one  grape  each  in  the 
other  holes  successively.  Whenever  the 
last  grape  was  placed  where  there  were 
an  even  number  of  grapes  below  seven,  he 
took  them  as  his  gain.  This  was  done  until 
all  players  but  one  were  out  of  grapes. 
This  one,  of  course,  is  winner.  The  game, 
except  that  it  encourages  mental  calcula- 
tion, seems  a  dull  one,  and  I  fail  to  under- 
stand how  we  could  play  it  for  hours. 
Sometimes  we  broke  up  in  a  fight  when 
some  one  was  caught  at  crooked  dealing. 
The  boys  dread  winters  in  Palestine, 
short  as  they  are,  for  then  they  have  to 
go  to  school.  This  is  the  only  drawback 
to  winter,  however,  because  it  is  as  short 
as  may  be  reasonably  expected.  '*  First 
rain  ''  falls  in  the  middle  of  November,  but 
the  ^'  wet  "  season  does  not  really  begin 
until  near  Christmas,  and  continues  until 


46      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

March.  Eain  falls  only  occasionally,  and 
many  pleasant  snnny  days  are  enjoyed, 
even  in  January.  Eoughly  speaking  we 
have  about  twenty-five  inches  of  rainfall 
a  season.  In  some  seasons  we  have  a  few 
inches  of  snow.  The  boys  take  advantage 
of  this  by  going  up  on  house-tops  and  test- 
ing the  accuracy  of  their  aims  with  snow- 
balls. Although  short-lived,  for  the  sun 
melts  the  snow  in  a  few  hours,  it  is  great 
sport. 

The  rest  of  the  year,  that  is,  from  March 
to  November,  is  summer,  during  which  we 
have  no  rain,  generally  speaking.  Some 
days  of  summer  are  hot,  but  the  nights 
are  all  cool  and  refreshing.  April  and 
May  are  the  most  delightful  months  of 
the  year  and  are  well  adapted  for  travel- 
ling and  sightseeing.  Everything  is  bud- 
ding, and  flowers  are  at  their  best.  Har- 
vest begins  with  spring,  and  then  follows 
the  fruit  season.  After  the  fruit  season, 
or,  rather,  during  the  latter  part  of  it, 
comes  the  time  to  gather  in  the  olives. 


MY   HOME  47 

Men  climb  the  trees  and  beat  the  olives 
from  the  branches  with  long  sticks,  while 
women  and  children  gather  them  off  the 
ground.  When  it  comes  from  the  tree,  the 
olive  has  a  milky  juice  of  a  peculiar  bitter 
flavor,  so  to  make  olives  fit  to  eat,  they 
pickle  them  in  a  strong  solution  of  salt, 
in  which  they  must  remain  for  several 
months  to  take  away  the  bitter  taste.  The 
best  and  ripest  of  the  olives  are  picked  to 
be  treated  with  this  solution  for  home  use ; 
the  rest  are  taken  to  the  press  in  order 
to  extract  the  oil.  The  olives  are  first 
placed  in  a  large,  round  stone  receptacle 
with  a  flat  bottom,  on  which  runs  a  large 
stone  roller.  This  roller  has  a  double  re- 
volving motion ;  it  turns  upon  its  own  axis 
and  also  around  a  central  pivot.  A  mule 
usually  does  the  turning.  The  crushed 
mass  is  then  carried  to  the  press  in  coarse 
baskets.  There  the  juice  is  put  in  hot 
water.  The  oil  comes  to  the  surface,  and 
the  impurities  are  suspended  in  the  water. 

An  olive  tree  is  of  much  value,  for  it 


48      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

takes  from  ten  to  fifteen  years  to  bring 
it  to  a  fruit-bearing  state.  Olive  oil  is 
mucli  used  in  Palestine  for  cooking  and 
lighting;  sometimes  it  is  used  to  dress 
wounds. 

After  having  stored  his  crops,  the  peas- 
ant of  Palestine  is  now  ready  for  another 
winter. 


CHAPTER   V 

AT   SCHOOL   IN   PALESTINE 

Like  other  Oriental  countries,  my  home, 
Palestine,  has  remained  intellectually  stag- 
nant for  centuries.  We  Arabians  pride 
ourselves  on  a  great  and  glorious  past,  a 
rich  literature,  and  a  most  beautiful  lan- 
guage. But  not  more  than  ten  per  cent, 
of  the  men  are  able  to  read  or  write. 
There  is  no  such  blessing  as  the  school 
systems  that  may  be  found  in  Western 
countries,  more  especially  in  the  United 
States.  The  government  in  Mohammedan 
villages  runs  schools  for  the  purpose  of 
teaching  the  boys  to  read  the  Koran.  The 
teacher  is  the  '*  khatib,"  which  means 
orator,  who,  besides  his  school  duties,  con- 
ducts prayer  for  the  village,  and  acts  as 

49 


50      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

care-taker  of  tlie  mosques  and  other  hal- 
lowed places.  He  writes  all  the  contracts 
and  letters  of  the  village,  in  fact  he  does 
about  everything  but  effective  teaching. 
Christians  never  attend  these  schools. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society,  an  Eng- 
lish organization,  attends  to  the  education 
of  the  Christians,  and  it  has  established 
small  schools  to  be  carried  on  under  its 
care  in  most  of  the  Christian  places  in 
Palestine.  These  schools  have  stimulated 
interest  in  learning  among  the  boys. 

In  1901  the  Friends  of  New  England 
opened  a  Boys'  Training  Home  in  Ram 
Allah,  my  native  town.  Mr.  Elihu  Grant 
(now  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  at 
Smith  College,  Northampton,  Massachu- 
setts) and  his  wife  were  the  teachers  for 
the  first  four  years.  I  was  one  of  the  boys 
who  entered  at  the  beginning,  and  in  1906 
I  was  graduated,  one  of  a  class  of  three. 

Girls  seldom  have  any  schooling,  and  in 
1838  it  is  recorded  that  my  home  town  had 
only  one  school  for  boys,  where  five  or  six 


Chums  in  the  American  School. 

The  teachers  try  to  keep  them  in  the  attractive  native  costume,  but 

the  boys  like  to  get  into  jackets  and  trousers. 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE        51 

boys  were  considered  educated  when  they 
could  read  Arabic.  To-day  things  are  de- 
cidedly changed:  all  the  different  sects 
have  schools,  which  are  usually  very  jeal- 
ous of  one  another,  but  they  serve  their 
purpose.  There  are  now  over  ten  schools 
in  my  home  village  of  about  ^ve  thousand 
inhabitants.  Among  them  are  two  board- 
ing-schools, one  for  boys,  and  the  other 
for  girls.  This  girls'  school  breaks  all 
precedents,  and  is  considered  the  finest  of 
its  kind  in  the  country. 

You  see  I  was  not  in  a  position  to  escape 
schooling.  I  was  taken  to  school  for  short 
periods  when  I  was  very  young,  but  I  never 
learned  anything  until  after  I  was  eight 
years  old.  Before  that  I  did  not  go  fre- 
quently enough,  and  when  I  did  go,  I  paid 
no  attention,  and  no  attention  was  paid  to 
me  if  I  kept  quiet.  At  the  age  of  eight  I 
became  interested  in  the  easy  arithmetical 
problems,  and  I  reported,  unfortunately 
for  myself,  as  you  shall  see  later,  daily 
improvements  and  changes  of  lessons  to 


52      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

my  father.  These  changes  meant  prog- 
ress, for  the  teacher  never  allowed  a  boy 
to  pass  over  a  lesson  without  first  master- 
ing what  was  supposed  to  be  taught  by  it. 
Let  me  first  picture  the  school-room. 
We  enter.  One-half  of  the  room  is  filled 
with  long  benches  on  which  the  boys  are 
seated.  The  more  advanced  ones  sit  in 
the  rear,  because  they  are  supposed  to  keep 
better  order,  and  need  not  be  in  the  im- 
mediate neighborhood  of  the  teacher.  One 
class  is  usually  reciting.  The  boys  stand 
in  a  semicircle  round  the  teacher,  with  the 
brightest  boys  on  one  end  and  the  dullest 
on  the  other.  First  one  boy  reads  and  is 
corrected,  and  then  another.  Those  who 
know  their  lessons  are  allowed  to  sit  down, 
while  the  others  have  to  undergo  punish- 
ment. Kneeling  in  the  corner  is  considered 
getting  out  of  it  easily,  for  usually  the 
teacher  inflicts  other  penalties.  He  keeps 
a  few  small  and  pliant  sticks  with  which  he 
hits  the  erring  boys  on  their  hands.  This 
method  is  usually  measured  by  the  num- 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE        53 

ber  of  mistakes  made,  —  one  mistake,  one 
blow,  and  so  on.  Whenever  the  teacher 
wishes  to  make  the  punishment  more  se- 
vere and  humiliating  to  the  boy,  he  whips 
his  bare  feet  instead  of  his  hands.  Often 
the  teacher  inflicts  these  punishments  be- 
cause of  complaints  by  the  mothers.  Some- 
body has  to  do  the  punishing,  and  since 
most  fathers  are  over-indulgent  with  their 
boys,  the  teachers  have  to  be  all  the  more 
stern  on  their  part.  This  whipping  is  fast 
being  done  away  with  and  more  humane 
methods  are  used.  Memories  force  me  to 
drop  the  subject. 

After  reading  come  writing  lessons. 
The  boys  go  up  to  the  teacher  and  watch 
him  write  models  for  them.  They  follow 
the  elegance  of  his  motions  and  try  to 
imitate  them,  much  to  the  disadvantage  of 
the  reed  pens  that  squeak  and  break  at  the 
least  pretext.  Thus  the  teacher  is  kept 
busy;  when  not  whetting  his  knife,  he  is 
sharpening  pens  for  his  imitators.  Older 
boys   learn  to    sharpen   their   own   pens. 


54      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

After  the  writing  lesson  they  have  a  les- 
son in  poetry.  All  the  boys  have  to  learn 
a  few  verses  of  poetry  daily.  This  used 
to  be  my  easiest  lesson,  for  the  whole 
school  chanted  the  verses  together,  and  all 
I  had  to  do  was  to  move  my  lips. 

Our  lessons  consisted  chiefly  of  parables 
and  fables.  Very  few  of  us  had  books,  and 
since  most  of  us  were  blessed  with  strong 
memories,  we  escaped  actually  learning 
anything.  I  used  to  be  able  to  recite  most 
of  the  gospels  by  heart,  but  could  not  read 
them.  One  day  there  was  to  be  a  boarding- 
school  opened  for  boys,  and  tests  were 
being  held.  My  father,  thinking  me  the 
scholar  of  the  family,  took  me  for  these 
tests,  and  to  his  surprise  I  could  not  read 
the  plainest  of  passages.  The  examining 
teacher,  who  was  dividing  the  aspirants 
into  two  classes,  pushed  me  aside  into  the 
second  class.  But  my  father  saved  me. 
He  protested  at  the  teacher's  action,  say- 
ing that  if  they  did  not  place  me  with  the 
first  class,  they  could  not  have  me  at  all. 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE       55 

Boys  who  wanted  to  enter  and  pay  the  fees 
were  rather  scarce,  so  not  having  any 
alternative,  the  teacher  placed  me  in  the 
first  class  for  a  trial  month. 

Never  till  that  time  had  I  known  that 
school  and  reading  were  anything  but  a 
foolish  imposition  on  a  boy's  free  nature. 
Now  I  was  put  to  it,  or  rather,  it  was  put 
to  me  to  ^^  make  good,"  and  I  resolved  to 
try  my  best  because  of  my  father.  The 
first  night  found  us  having  our  try-outs  to 
determine  who  was  the  strongest  boy  in 
school.  This  being  established,  we  were 
ready  for  the  school  year.  We  began  to 
learn  not  only  Arabic,  but  English,  not 
only  reading,  but  also  writing,  and  how  to 
work  problems  in  arithmethic.  Grammar 
and  many  more  arduous  things  followed. 
I  happened  to  *'  make  good,"  and  stayed 
in  the  class,  but  it  told  on  my  strength,  and 
from  one  of  the  strongest  boys  in  school 
I  fell  down  to  seventh.  This  did  not  make 
any  difference,  however ;  I  led  my  classes 
and  at  home  I  was  the  hero.    It  certainly 


56      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

was  a  tactical  mistake  on  my  part  to  make 
such  a  reputation  at  the  beginning,  for  I 
had  to  maintain  the  lead,  or  bear  the  shame 
which  my  father  would  have  to  share  with 
me.  In  the  tribal  coffee-house  it  was  a 
subject  of  continual  conversation  and  argu- 
ment. This  was  more  vehement  as  each 
examination  drew  near,  and  everybody  was 
praising  his  favorite. 

Our  games  at  school  became  organized, 
and  we  used  to  take  long  walks  every  after- 
noon after  school.  While  passing  through 
town,  we  had  to  march  two  by  two,  but 
out  in  the  open  we  ran  as  we  pleased.  The 
red-letter  day  of  our  school  year  was  pic- 
nic day.  We  started  early  in  the  morning 
for  some  spring  out  in  the  woods.  We 
took  all  our  food  out  with  us  and  spent  a 
most  enjoyable  day  playing  games.  On 
these  occasions  we  had  many  track  con- 
tests, and  we  also  spent  some  time  swing- 
ing under  the  huge  olive  trees. 

The  longest  of  these  trips  was  the  one 
we  took  in  my  second  year.    We  went  to 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE        57 

''  Ayn  Fara  ''  in  the  Wady  Fara,  a  few 
hours'  trip  to  the  northwest  of  Jerusalem. 
Leaving  Earn  Allah  as  early  as  ^ve  o'clock, 
we  proceeded  eastward  for  about  a  mile. 
Here  was  the  much  smaller  town  of  El 
Bereh,  lying  on  the  southeast  side  of  a 
curve  in  the  carriage  road  which  leads 
south  to  Jerusalem,  nine  miles  away,  and 
north  to  Nablus,  the  Shecem  of  the  Bible. 
From  this  town  we  could  see  Jerusalem. 
To  our  left,  north  of  El  Bereh,  is  a  lofty 
mountain  on  which  there  is  a  high  watch- 
tower  commanding  a  large  section  of  the 
neighboring  country  on  all  sides. 

On  the  left  side  of  the  road  toward  the 
south  we  saw  the  pride  of  the  village,— 
one  of  the  finest  and  strongest  water  sup- 
plies for  many  miles  around.  A  mosque  is 
built  on  the  site.  We  could  see  women  and 
girls  coming  and  going,  carrying  their 
water  jars  on  their  heads,  and  a  little  fur- 
ther in  the  same  direction  we  caught  a 
glimpse  of  the  old  Khan,  or  inn.  This  is 
the  inn  where  Joseph  and  Mary  missed 


58      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

Christ  on  their  homeward  journey  to  Naz- 
areth, and  returned  back  to  find  him  argu- 
ing with  the  learned  Jewish  elders.  Every- 
where we  saw  reservoirs,  and  other  de- 
vices, and  ruins  of  Bible  times,  and  to  the 
southeast  rose  Jebel  Ettawil,  the  long 
mountain  which  barred  our  view  of  the 
Eiver  Jordan  and  the  Dead  Sea. 

We  continued  toward  the  south  along 
our  road,  which  sloped  downward  gently 
but  steadily.  After  walking  a  mile,  we  got 
to  the  ruins  of  Atara  at  the  foot  of  Jebel 
Deborah.  On  the  top  of  this  mountain 
the  prophetess  Deborah  sat  and  judged 
among  the  tribes  of  Israel. 

Following  the  road  for  about  three  more 
miles,  we  took  a  road  leading  eastward. 
We  were  now  between  two  villages :  to  our 
right  was  Er  Eam,  the  Ramah  of  Samuel, 
another  judge  and  prophet  of  Israel;  to 
our  left  was  a  smaller  village,  Jeba,  also 
of  Bible  fame.  Here  the  road  began  to 
sound  hollow  under  the  donkey's  feet;  the 
sound  was  noticeable  even  under  our  own 


mi<i:^ 


;.iirfrrfifV,i^..i  -ii"-'-^ 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE       59 

tread.  This  may  be  accounted  for  by  the 
fact  that  there  are  many  underground 
caves,  some  of  which  may  be  entered  by 
stairs  cut  in  the  stone.  Undoubtedly  these 
caves  must  have  served  either  as  dwellings 
or  hiding-places  to  peoples  of  former  times, 
for  they  are  cemented  and  otherwise  fitted 
for  habitation. 

After  passing  these  villages,  we  found 
ourselves  in  a  wilderness  abounding  with 
birds  and  flowers.  The  birds  we  saw  were 
mostly  large,  many  of  them  crows.  Flow- 
ers of  many  colors  bloomed  everywhere; 
anemones  and  red  poppies  were  especially 
numerous. 

Following  a  steep  incline  which  circled 
down  the  mountain-side,  we  reached  the 
stream  bed  of  Ayn  Fara,  and  after  a  short 
walk,  the  fountain-head  of  the  Ayn  itself. 
Large  volumes  of  water  were  gushing  out 
of  the  rocks. 

Mountains,  high  and  steep,  towered  al- 
most perpendicularly  above  us,  shutting  us 
from  the  rest  of  the  world.    We  were  in 


60      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  of  Death,  alluded 
to  in  the  twenty-third  Psalm,  and  for  a 
short  time  we  were  awed  and  almost  seared 
by  the  resounding  echoes.  But  soon  we 
began  fishing  with  pin-hooks  in  the  only 
little  pond  in  the  valley.  Some  even  went 
swimming  in  it. 

After  dinner  we  were  ready  to  go  on 
exploring  parties.  We  climbed  up  the  side 
of  the  only  mountain  climbable.  After  go- 
ing up  a  little  way  we  reached  a  cave  that 
was  unlike  anything  we  ever  saw  before. 
It  must  have  been  one  of  the  caves  in  which 
Saul  cornered  David,  when  he  was  trying 
to  kill  him.  It  is  about  sixty  feet  above 
the  fountain  in  a  cliff  of  limestone  rock, 
and  has  several  square  chambers  with 
many  passages  and  vestibules.  In  front 
of  the  rooms  is  a  narrow  ledge  command- 
ing the  path,  and  cut  through  this  natural 
platform  is  a  manhole,  which  is  the  only 
entrance  to  the  cave,  offering  access  to  only 
one  man  at  a  time.  When  manned  and 
provisioned  properly,  the  cave  must  have 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE        61 

been  impregnable  in  early-time  warfare, 
and  I  cannot  help  but  wander  back  to  those 
times,  and  picture  scenes  of  battle  around 
the  cave.  This  was  not  the  only  cave  in 
the  mountain,  for  all  along  up  and  down 
the  valley  we  found  caves  of  varying  sizes 
and  depths.  Many  of  them  are  improved 
upon,  probably  for  the  purpose  of  the  her- 
mit-dwelling so  prevalent  in  the  early  and 
middle  ages  of  Christianity.  This  moun- 
tain is  the  place  where  God  sent  Elijah  to 
dwell  in  the  time  of  famine ;  here  the  crows 
brought  him  meat  and  food,  and  the  foun- 
tain furnished  him  with  water,  while  the 
famine  lasted.  It  is  an  ideal  place  for  such 
an  experience. 

Our  journey  homeward  along  the  same 
road  we  had  taken  in  the  morning  was 
much  quieter  than  our  coming,  for  we  were 
tired,  and  besides,  it  was  uphill,  with  noth- 
ing in  sight  but  recitations,  blackboards, 
books  and  the  teacher's  stick. 

And  so  I  passed  my  school-life  in  Pal- 
estine.   Five  years  later  my  class  gradu- 


62      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

ated.  There  were  eight  in  the  class,  but 
only  three  of  us  received  diplomas,  which 
shows  the  severity  of  examinations  and 
requirements.  The  Spanish  Consul,  act- 
ing for  the  American  Consul,  who  was 
absent  from  Jerusalem  at  the  time,  gave 
us  our  diplomas,  amidst  the  most  impress- 
ive of  ceremonies. 

The  school  from  which  I  graduated  was 
young  and  consequently  without  any  recog- 
nition from  the  other  schools.  Graduates 
of  the  school  had  to  **  show  the  goods  '' 
and  not  their  diplomas  on  application  for 
entrance  to  a  higher  school.  The  English 
College  of  Jerusalem  was  stricter  on  this 
point  than  any  other  institution.  My  fa- 
ther, however,  was  induced  to  let  me  try 
the  examinations  to  the  college,  and  I 
passed.  They  were  hard,  and  included 
several  studies  not  taught  at  my  old  school, 
which  I  had  to  pick  up  to  please  my  father, 
because  failure  now,  after  a  fine  record  at 
the  preparatory  school,  would  be  fatal  to 
all  my  aspirations. 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE       63 

The  college  students  were  nearly  all  men, 
so  the  methods  of  teaching  were  different 
from  what  I  had  been  accustomed  to.  We 
had  several  professors,  but  my  favorite 
was  the  professor  of  Arabic,  for  I  loved 
the  Arabic  language,  and  soon  excelled  in 
it.  The  method  of  teaching  it  was  by  con- 
crete examples.  As  soon  as  the  teacher 
entered  the  room,  he  made  straight  for  the 
blackboard  and  wrote  several  stanzas  of 
Arabic  classical  poetry.  We  were  asked 
to  analyze  and  parse  it,  telling  the  differ- 
ent functions  of  the  words.  This  is  ex- 
tremely difficult,  more  so  in  the  Arabic 
than  in  any  other  language.  We  started 
also  to  read  a  book,  but  never  finished  more 
than  a  few  pages.  Our  teacher  had  so 
much  to  say  upon  each  word  and  its  con- 
struction, its  history,  and  instances  of  its 
use,  that  the  year  passed  on  a  few  pages. 
This  method  is  essential  in  order  to  get  a 
working  knowledge  of  classical  Arabic, 
such  as  that  in  the  Koran.  At  other  times 
he  took  us  out  walking,  reciting  to  us  as 


64      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

we  went  some  of   the  most   delightfully 
musical  poetry  in  the  world. 

For  other  studies  we  had  algebra,  plane 
and  solid  geometry,  with  a  general  review 
of  arithmetic.  We  studied  mediaeval  and 
modern  history,  and  physiology,  the  Bible, 
and  school  methods.  For  English  we  read 
Lamb's  **  Tales  from  Shakespeare,"  Irv- 
ing's  **  Sketch  Book,"  and  Shakespeare's 
**  Julius  Caesar;  "  along  with  our  reading 
we  had  a  thorough  review  of  grammar  and 
syntax.  I  must  admit  that  although  I  was 
supposed  to  have  mastered  these  subjects, 
and  got  good  marks  to  show  it,  I  was  left 
with  almost  no  exact  knowledge  as  a  result 
of  my  long  and  laborious  work.  My  knowl- 
edge of  English  was  not  of  the  kind  to 
cope  successfully  with  the  older  English 
literature,  such  as  '*  Julius  Caesar,"  and  in 
those  trying  times  of  examinations  I  had 
on  many  occasions  to  trust  to  my  parrot- 
like, yet  strong,  memory.  One  year  of  such 
hard  study,  however,  was  enough  for  me; 
the  constant  application  to  books,  many  of 


AT    SCHOOL    IN    PALESTINE       65 

them  in  fine  print,  had  almost  ruined  my 
eyes.    I  decided  to  come  to  America. 

But  I  must  go  back  in  my  story  now,  and 
tell  about  an  important  event  of  my  school 
life,  —  a  visit  to  Jerusalem. 


CHAPTEE  VI 

A  VISIT   TO   JEBUSALEM 

It  is  surprising,  almost  shocking,  to  know 
how  few  of  us  visit  famous  places  that  are 
near  to  us,  when  other  people  come  by  the 
hundreds  from  thousands  of  miles  away- 
just  to  see  these  same  places.  If  the  old 
adage,  **  Familiarity  breeds  contempt,"  is 
true,  then  it  is  equally  true  that  proximity 
breeds  neglect.  Many  are  the  people  of 
Palestine  who  have  never  seen  the  Dead 
Sea  or  the  Jordan,  nor  visited  Bethlehem, 
or  even  Jerusalem.  And  it  was  an  event 
quite  out  of  the  usual  course  when  early 
one  morning  we  set  out  to  visit  Jerusalem 
and  see  the  places  we  read  of  so  much  in 
the  Bible. 

For  this  journey  carriages  were  hired, 
since  there  were  no  cars  or  trains,  and  it 

66 


A    VISIT   TO   JERUSALEM  67 

was  too  far  for  young  boys  to  walk.  For 
the  first  half  of  our  journey  we  went  on 
the  same  road  as  to  Ayn  Fara,  but  we  did 
not  turn  eastward  as  we  did  to  go  to  Ayn 
Fara,  but  kept  on  going  straight  south  to 
the  Holy  City. 

The  scenery  along  the  way  was  pastoral, 
and,  although  lacking  in  beautiful  wood- 
lands, it  had  a  charm  all  its  own  that 
spelled  peace  and  rest  to  the  onlooker. 
The  colors  were  so  quiet  and  so  perfectly 
blended  that  they  satisfied  the  eyes  and 
taste  of  the  artist.  The  grass,  looking 
upward  from  its  sandy  bed,  reflected  the 
splendor  of  the  sun  beautifully  in  its  glis- 
tening garb  of  green  and  dew.  The  coun- 
try lay  open  in  the  early  morning ;  the  sky 
was  clear  and  blue.  After  passing  each 
hill  we  could  see  Jerusalem ;  then  we  would 
lose  sight  of  it  again,  as  the  next  hill  cov- 
ered it  from  view.  It  lay  directly  south 
of  us,  with  the  Mount  of  Olives  a  little  to 
the  east  of  it. 

The  Dead  Sea  and  the  table-land  beyond 


C8      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

the  Jordan  were  visible  through  occasional 
gate-like  apertures  that  separate  the  differ- 
ent hills.  The  blue-gray  Mountains  of 
Moab  loom  in  the  background  of  the  won- 
derful picture.  The  Eiver  Jordan,  con- 
necting like  a  thread  with  the  Dead  Sea, 
was  only  twenty  miles  away,  and  the  lowest 
spot  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  near  the  Dead 
Sea,  was  twelve  hundred  feet  below  us. 
Soon  we  approached  Shufat,  the  village  of 
the  priests  who  were  killed  by  Saul  when 
they  welcomed  the  fugitive  David.  We 
also  saw  Nebi  Samuil,  the  home  of  the 
prophet  Samuel,  in  the  distance. 

The  last  hill  reached  before  we  descended 
upon  the  city  was  El-Ma sharif.  This  is 
the  only  hill  that  really  commands  the  city 
from  a  military  standpoint.  A  defending 
army  in  Jerusalem  may  cope  on  even  terms 
with  an  enemy  on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  It 
may  even  have  an  advantage  over  them,  for 
the  deep  ravine  of  the  Valley  of  Jehosha- 
phat  separates  them.  But  an  invader  from 
El-Masharif  has  Jerusalem  at  his  mercy, 


A    VISIT  TO   JERUSALEM  69 

and  it  was  from  this  point  that  the  Romans 
attacked  the  city  with  success. 

Jerusalem  now  lay  before  us.  We  saw 
no  smoke  coming  out  of  tall  chimneys,  as 
we  do  on  approaching  cities  in  this  coun- 
try, nor  did  we  see  any  sky-scrapers.  We 
saw  spires  of  churches,  bell-towers,  mina- 
rets, and  square  houses;  we  saw  the  wall 
girding  the  city  proper.  We  saw  every- 
thing which  reminded  us  of  chivalry,  relig- 
ion, and  age,  awakening  the  poetic  in 
our  natures.  Warriors  strong  and  brave 
fought  for  this  place,  and  the  scenes  of 
the  world's  history  that  were  enacted 
within  its  walls,  would  dim  the  brightest 
record  of  another  country  or  city.  Even 
Rome,  with  all  her  glorious  history,  sinks 
into  insignificance  when  compared  with  the 
real  Eternal  City. 

After  gazing  upon  this  view  for  a  while 
we  descended  El-Masharif  by  a  winding 
road,  and  in  a  short  time  we  were  in  the 
city.  The  first  place  we  visited  was  the 
Kings'   Tombs,   the  burial-places    of   the 


70      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

kings  of  Israel  and  Judah.  We  entered  by 
an  old  gate,  and  went  down  broad  stairs 
carved  in  the  rock.  About  forty  feet  un- 
derground we  reached  another  gate  which 
ushered  us  into  a  very  large  open  square 
yard,  enclosed  on  all  sides  by  walls  of  rock. 
These  walls  have  small,  uninviting  doors 
which  lead  into  numberless  caves  and  cata- 
combs that  are  not  unlike  those  of  Eome  or 
the  Egyptian  pyramids.  We  might  have 
spent  a  great  deal  of  time  here,  going  from 
one  to  another  of  the  private  tombs  which 
form  a  continuous  chain,  but  we  were 
obliged  to  hurry,  as  our  day  was  short. 

We  took  the  main  road  again,  and  after 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  we  reached  the  Garden 
tomb.  This  is  the  place  agreed  upon  by 
most  Western  Biblical  explorers  to  be  the 
burial-place  of  Christ.  We  entered  by  a 
small  gate  at  the  end  of  a  one-way  street, 
and  found  ourselves  in  a  fragrant  and 
finely-kept  flower  garden.  A  little  distance 
to  our  left  was  the  tomb  itself.  First  we 
had  to  pass  through  a  small  door  cut  in  a 


A    VISIT  TO   JERUSALEM  71 

chiseled  wall  of  rock,  and  secured  on  one 
side  by  a  round  stone,  like  a  huge  grinding- 
stone,  that  ran  in  a  carved  path  when  the 
door  was  to  be  closed.  In  the  square  cave 
beyond  this  door  we  found  the  floor  cut  into 
small  tombs.  In  one  corner  is  a  platform 
cut  in  the  rock,  upon  which  they  placed  the 
body  for  embalming.  We  now  stood  on 
the  very  spot  where  the  greatest  event  in 
history  took  place,  —  the  resurrection  of 
our  Saviour. 

It  did  not  take  a  very  active  imagination 
to  see  over  again  the  world's  tragedy, 
standing  there  in  front  of  the  tombs,  and 
gazing  at  Calvary,  the  hill  on  which  Jesus 
was  crucified.  To  our  right  lay  the  city, 
hidde^  by  its  massive,  sombre  wall.  We 
were  in  a  world  all  by  ourselves,  alone  with 
our  thoughts  and  the  flowers.  An  irresist- 
ible calm  came  over  us,  and  for  a  while 
nobody  spoke,  until  eagerness  prompted  us 
to  seek  the  immediate  scene  of  the  cruci- 
fixion. 

Although  at  the  very  foot  of  Calvary, 


72      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IK  PALESTINE 

we  had  to  take  a  roundabout  way  in  order 
to  reach  it.  We  went  through  the  main 
thoroughfare  again  toward  the  city.  On 
our  right  spread  the  orchard  of  olive  trees 
so  ably  pictured  by  Henry  Van  Dyke  in 
his  **  Out-of-Doors  in  the  Holy  Land,"  the 
very  place  where  his  party  camped.  We 
saw  several  tents  of  goats'  hair  pitched 
here,  and  heard  the  hammers  of  the  gypsy 
blacksmiths  who  dwell  in  them.  The  gyp- 
sies meet  the  farmers  on  their  way  to  the 
city  to  have  their  tools  sharpened  or  some 
other  blacksmithing  done,  lure  them  into 
their  tents,  and  do  the  work  for  them.  The 
gypsies'  work  is  usually  much  more  satis- 
factory than  the  work  done  by  the  fella- 
heen, or  farmers.  On  our  left  stood  the 
military-looking  establishment  of  the  Do- 
minican Knights.  In  front  of  us  rose  the 
Damascus  Gate,  one  of  the  gates  leading 
through  the  wall  into  the  city.  We  turned 
to  the  left,  following  a  road  along  the  wall. 
After  about  a  half-mile  walk  we  reached 
Calvary. 


A    VISIT  TO   JERUSALEM  73 

Calvary  means  skull,  and  the  hill  is  so 
named  because  of  its  shape.  A  little  dis- 
tance from  the  base  of  the  hill  is  a  great 
oval  grotto,  the  longest  diameter  of  which 
is  horizontal,  thus,  producing  a  vivid  re- 
semblance to  the  mouth  of  the  human  skull. 
A  cliff  projecting  above  it  answers  for  the 
nose,  and  two  other  caves,  one  on  each  side 
of  the  cliff,  are  the  eyes.  The  dome-like 
top  of  the  hill  is  covered  with  grass. 

We  had  to  enter  through  a  gate,  for  Cal- 
vary is  to-day  a  Mohammedan  graveyard, 
and  enclosed  by  a  fence.  We  walked  up  the 
gentle  slope  to  the  summit,  and  here  each 
one  of  us  chose  a  spot  which  he  thought 
was  the  actual  place  upon  which  the  cross 
was  fixed.  We  did  not  like  to  tarry  long 
in  a  graveyard,  so  we  hurried  on,  taking 
the  road  leading  eastward  to  the  Mount  of 
Olives. 

We  crossed  the  Brook  Kedron,  and  found 
ourselves  near  a  level  piece  of  ground  at 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  —  the  Garden  of 
Gethsemane.     This  sacred  place  scarcely 


74      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

exceeds  fifty-seven  yards  square,  but  is 
well  planted  with  olive  trees,  which,  the 
people  believe,  are  the  same  which  grew 
there  in  our  Saviour's  time.  One  would 
be  almost  led  to  give  credit  to  their  belief, 
if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  the  great 
historian  Josephus  records  that  Titus,  the 
Eoman,  cut  down  all  the  trees  within  a 
hundred  furlongs  of  Jerusalem.  The  Gar- 
den is  well  kept  by  Franciscan  monks,  who, 
to  judge  by  the  result  of  their  work,  must 
be  very  skillful  flower-gardeners.  At  the 
upper  part  of  this  garden  is  a  flat  ledge 
of  rock  with  images  on  it  indicating  it  to 
be  the  spot  on  which  Peter,  James  and 
John  fell  asleep  during  Christ's  agony. 
We  climbed  the  mountain,  and  about  half- 
way up  saw  a  Eussian  church,  which 
marks  the  supposed  place  where  Christ  sat 
looking  at  Jerusalem  and  wept.  This  is 
the  best  place  to  get  a  general  view  of 
Jerusalem. 

Our  outlook  was  one  to  charm.    At  our 
feet  lay  Jerusalem,  encompassed  by  hills. 


A    VISIT   TO   JERUSALEM  75 

not  unlike  a  great  amphitheatre.  The 
rugged  valleys  were  more  or  less  covered 
with  fragrant  brushwood,  and  the  olive 
groves  contrasted  strongly  with  the  white 
lines  of  upheaved  layers  of  chalky  lime- 
stone. Beyond  these,  softened  by  distance, 
lay  the  great  maritime  plain,  here  a  vivid 
green  patch  of  young  wheat,  there  a  fallow 
spot  full  of  flowers  with  a  few  olive  trees. 
The  bright  sunshine  glistened  upon  the 
white  houses  of  Lud  and  El-Ramleh.  Far 
beyond  a  thread  of  golden  sand  divided  the 
plain  from  the  hazy  blue  sea.  A  rounded 
mass  of  white  in  the  distance  we  recog- 
nized as  Jaffa.  Many  villages  adorned  the 
hilltops  or  nestled  in  the  valleys.  The 
scene  was  worthy  of  any  master  artist. 

The  plateau  upon  which  Jerusalem  is 
situated  is  a  waterless,  unfertile  tongue 
of  land,  nearly  nine  hundred  acres  in  size. 
It  is  surrounded  on  three  sides  by  deep- 
cut  ravines.  The  Valley,  or  **  Brook,"  of 
Kedron  runs  on  the  east  and  northeast 
sides,  separating  the  plateau  of  Jerusalem, 


76      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

first  from  El-Masharif ,  known  otherwise  as 
Mount  Scopus,  and  second  from  the  Mount 
of  Olives.  In  its  upper  course,  the  valley- 
is  broad  and  flat  and  is  full  of  olive  trees, 
but  at  the  northwest  angle  of  the  city,  it 
becomes  deep  and  narrow  with  high  pre- 
cipitous sides.  It  was  into  this  valley  that 
Christ  was  tempted  by  the  Devil  to  throw 
himself  from  the  wing  of  the  temple. 

The  Valley  of  Hinnom  starts  at  the  west 
of  the  city  and  runs  parallel  with  the  west 
wall  of  the  city  towards  the  south,  and 
then,  rapidly  deepening,  it  turns  towards 
the  east,  circling  around  Mount  Zion  until 
it  unites  with  the  Brook  Kedron  near  Job's 
Well,  the  En-rogel  of  the  Bible  (Joshua 
xv:7). 

The  walls  of  the  city  are  not  strong  and 
have  no  bastions ;  but  they  have  towers  on 
them  after  the  old  methods  of  fortification. 
They  were  built  about  the  twelfth  century 
by  Sultan  Sullimam,  in  order  to  repel  the 
attacks  of  the  nomadic  Arabs.  The  walls 
have  six  doors,  two  opening  west,  one  east. 


A    VISIT   TO   JERUSALEM  77 

one  south,  and  two  north.  Between  the  two 
northern  gates  is  seen  the  only  strongly 
fortified  castle  on  the  walls,  the  Tower  of 
David.  To  the  south  of  this  castle  is 
Mount  Zion,  and  one  can  see  clearly  the 
mosque  built  upon  David's  tomb. 

The  streets  of  Jerusalem  are  mean  and 
narrow,  and  the  private  buildings  are  not 
imposing,  but  their  humble  appearance  is 
effectively  offset  by  the  grandeur  of  the 
numerous  churches,  mosques,  minarets,  and 
public  buildings.  At  certain  hours  desig- 
nated for  prayer  by  Mohammed,  the  kha- 
tib  or  muezzin  goes  to  the  top  of  the  min- 
aret to  announce  the  house  of  prayer.  He 
walks  to  and  fro  on  a  circular  balcony 
shouting,  or  rather  singing,  his  call :  ^  ^  Al- 
lahu  Akber,  la  ilaha  ilia  Allah  Wa  Moham- 
med rasoola  Allah  Hayya  ila  salat,  huyya 
allalfalat.'^ 

It  means  literally,  ' '  God  is  great ;  there 
is  no  God  save  Allah,  and  Mohammed  is 
his  prophet  (sent-one).  Bless  prayer, 
bless  the  desert."    The  desert  is  blessed, 


78      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

because  from  it  originated  Mohammedan- 
ism. 

Almost  in  front  of  ns,  as  we  stood  on 
the  mountain-side,  was  the  flat  table-land 
on  top  of  Mount  Moriah.  Upon  this  are 
built  the  Mosque  of  Omar  and  in  the  cen- 
ter of  the  city  the  Church  of  the  Holy- 
Sepulchre,  supposed  by  the  Catholics  to 
contain  the  tomb  of  Christ.  Next  to  it 
is  the  Prussian  Protestant  church  which 
was  dedicated  by  the  German  Emperor  on 
his  recent  visit  to  the  Holy  Land. 

To  the  north  of  Jerusalem  itself  we  saw 
the  **  new  Jerusalem,^'  about  twice  as 
large  as  the  city  proper  and  decidedly 
more  modern-looking.  Here  dwell  the 
Jews  who  are  coming  in  great  numbers 
daily.  The  movement  is  financed  by  the 
Zionist  Society.  It  has  been  calculated 
that  more  than  one  hundred  Jews  come  to 
the  city  weekly  to  stay.  As  a  result  this 
population  has  been  tripled  in  the  last 
twenty  years. 

It  was   about  lunch  time   now,   so  we 


A    VISIT   TO   JERUSALEM  79 

descended  to  the  valley,  and  had  our  din- 
ner, sitting  on  tombstones  in  the  shade 
of  the  Tower  of  Absalom,  which  is  built 
of  huge  rocks.  After  dinner  we  entered 
the  city  through  the  Gate  of  St.  Mary. 
There  we  met  a  man,  a  Kawas,  sent  by  the 
American  Consul  to  escort  us  into  the 
Mosque  of  Omar.  No  Christians  are  al- 
lowed to  enter  even  the  grounds  unless 
thus  escorted,  or  by  special  permission 
from  the  pasha,  governor  of  the  city. 
Before  entering  we  were  compelled  to 
either  remove  our  shoes  or  to  hire  over- 
shoes from  the  door-keeper,  as  no 
^  *  street ' '  shoes  are  allowed  to  tread  upon 
the  most  valuable  rugs  in  the  world. 

The  mosque  of  Omar,  as  we  found  out, 
was  nothing  more  than  a  huge  dome  built 
over  a  great  rock,  ''  Sachrah."  This  was 
the  rock,  we  were  told,  upon  which  Abra- 
ham tied  his  only  son  Isaac  to  offer  him 
for  sacrifice,  but  was  stopped  by  divine 
intervention.  This  was  the  place  where 
the  magnificent  temple  of  Solomon  stood. 


80      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

We  went  into  a  cave  under  the  rock,  and 
to  our  surprise  we  found  that  all  the  proph- 
ets, at  some  time  or  other,  had  been  there. 
Only  olive  oil  is  burned  here.  Among  the 
marvels  of  the  place  are  stones  smoothed 
and  highly  polished  until  a  fine  picture, 
resembling  a  master-painting,  is  obtained. 
This  is  probably  due  to  petrified  fossils. 
The  famous  rugs,  over  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness, are  also  wonderful  specimens  of  Mo- 
hammedan art. 

After  leaving  the  mosque,  we  walked 
about  the  yard  in  front  and  saw  the  only 
display  of  water-works  in  Palestine,  —  a 
small  fountain  resembling  those  in  an 
American  park.  The  water  comes  from 
the  Pools  of  Solomon,  great  rectangular 
box-pools,  built  of  heavy  masonry.  They 
are  three  in  number,  and  lie  south  of  Beth- 
lehem by  the  road  that  leads  to  Hebron. 
These  three  immense  reservoirs,  each  of 
which,  when  full,  would  float  a  battle-ship, 
have  a  combined  capacity  of  over  forty 
million  gallons.     Palestine  is  noted  for 


A    VISIT  TO   JERUSALEM  81 

these  pools,  not  a  few  of  which  are  in 
Jerusalem.  Formerly  stone  aqueducts 
conveyed  the  water  to  Jerusalem,  and 
their  remains  are  still  to  be  seen.  The 
water  is  now  conveyed  through  an  iron 
pipe,  not  more  than  an  inch  and  a  half 
in  diameter,  from  a  distance  of  over  eight 
miles. 

After  visiting  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  we  were  ready  to  start  home- 
ward. 


CHAPTER   VII 

A    WEDDING   IN    PALESTINE 

Parents  in  Palestine  have  mnch  to  say 
about  the  choice  of  a  life-partner.  How- 
ever, it  is  seldom,  if  ever,  that  a  young 
man  or  a  young  woman  is  forced  against 
his  or  her  will  to  marry.  "When  a  young 
man  decides  upon  the  girl,  and  has  reason 
to  believe  that  he  is  acceptable  to  her,  he 
tells  his  father,  and  they  both  talk  it  over. 
Then,  if  there  are  no  serious  objections, 
they  let  their  near  relatives  into  the  secret. 
These  relatives  pay  the  parents  of  the  girl 
a  visit,  and  hint  at  its  object.  As  soon  as 
the  girPs  parents  understand  their  mean- 
ing, they  give  their  consent,  providing,  of 
course,  that  they  find  no  objection  to  the 
proposal.  This  is  the  first  step.  The  next 
step  is  the  engagement  fete,  at  which  the 
parents  of  the  man  formally  ask  for  the 

82 


A    WEDDING    IN    PALESTINE        83 

girl,   and   the    two    families    arrange   the 
terms. 

Weddings  are  usually  celebrated  on 
Sunday,  because  it  is  a  holiday,  and  all 
the  men  can  be  present.  All  the  details 
are  arranged  beforehand,  and  the  real  fes- 
tivities begin  on  Saturday  evening.  This 
celebration  is  called  ^  *  Milaab, ' '  and  is  par- 
ticipated in  joyfully  by  the  bridegroom 
and  his  friends. 

At  the  Milaab  there  is  a  blazing  fire  of 
brush,  which  is  continually  fed.  Beside 
it  the  men  and  youths  form  two  lines 
facing  each  other.  One  side  sings  a  stanza 
of  the  song  while  the  others  clap  their 
hands;  then  in  its  turn  the  second  side 
sings  another  stanza  while  the  former 
singers  clap  their  hands.  As  they  clap 
they  execute  a  swaying  motion  which  ends 
by  each  one  stamping  his  right  foot  on 
the  ground.  Sometimes  one  man  will  start 
an  impromptu  song.  The  composer  passes 
the  first  two  lines  along,  until  every  one 
knows  them.     Then  they  sing  them,  and 


84      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

the  other  side  simply  repeats  the  same 
words.  In  the  time  thus  gained  the  com- 
poser improvises  more  lines.  The  songs 
are  usually  of  love  and  its  power.  While 
this  festivity  is  going  on  the  old  men  sit 
and  talk  and  drink  coffee. 

The  women,  in  the  meantime,  are  having 
their  celebration  and  singing.  Some  of 
them  can  give  a  peculiar  and  highly  thrill- 
ing cry,  called  the  ^  *  Zagroot. ' '  This  stirs 
up  the  men  more  than  anything  else,  and 
they  continue  their  singing  more  heartily 
than  ever.  The  women  cry  this  Zagroot 
on  occasions  other  than  marriage  cere- 
monies. In  time  of  battle,  for  instance, 
it  is  a  great  inspiration.  It  is  told  that 
on  one  occasion  a  great  rock,  needed  for 
the  baptismal  services  in  the  Greek  Church, 
was  being  rolled  from  the  country  into  the 
village.  It  was  tied  with  ropes,  and  many 
men,  having  disdained  the  services  of  ani- 
mals for  pulling,  were  harnessed  to  it. 
They  came  to  a  very  steep  place,  and  there 
was  a  stop  in  the  operations;    the  men 


A    WEDDING    IN   PALESTINE        85 

were  fagged,  and  could  pull  the  rock  no 
farther.  So  the  old  men  who  directed  the 
affair  wisely  sent  for  some  young  women 
to  come  and  sing.  At  the  sound  of  the 
Zagroot  the  men  tugged  mightily  at  the 
rock  and  rolled  it  up  the  hill  with  great 
ease. 

The  wedding  ceremony  usually  takes 
place  in  the  afternoon.  Many  young 
**  sports  ''  come  from  different  villages  to 
share  in  the  celebration.  When  the  bride- 
groom is  ready,  he  mounts  a  horse,  and 
the  young  men  form  a  ring  in  front  of 
him.  A  broadsword  dancer  stands  in  the 
center  and  leads  the  impassioned  singing. 
The  men  dance  violently  and  clap  their 
hands,  singing  the  song  of  Sahjeh  as  an 
accompaniment,  while  they  escort  the 
bridegroom  slowly  toward  the  church. 
After  they  have  arrived,  the  bride  comes 
amidst  similar  singing  and  rejoicing.  She 
is  veiled,  and  carries  a  sword  in  front  of 
her  face.  She  and  the  bridegroom,  with 
a  few  of  their  near  relatives,  enter  the 


86      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

churcli,  where  the  marriage  ceremony  is 
performed.  Most  of  the  attendants  and 
participants  in  the  celebration  remain  in 
the  yard  during  the  ceremony.  When  the 
married  couple  come  out,  their  friends  fire 
pistols  and  guns,  and  start  for  the  home 
of  the  bridegroom.  At  the  tribal  coffee- 
house he  is  given  a  reception,  followed  by 
a  great  banquet  and  the  presentation  of 
gifts. 

Here  is  a  translation  of  the  song  of 
Sahjeh,  which  the  bridegroom's  friends 
sing: 

SONG  OF  SAHJEH 

Good  evening,  all  ye  who  are  present ; 
In  the  middle  of  the  garden  is  a  green-bird  chirp- 
ing to  you. 

0  mother  of  the  only  one,  bless  thee  for  what  thou 

did  for  him! 
On  his  wedding  day  thou  didst  grind  his  flour  at 

Zerka. 

Were  it  not  for  love  we'd  not  come  walking, 
Nor  would  we  tread  on  your  ground. 


A    WEDDING    IN    PALESTINE       87 

Good  evening,  thou  owner  of  a  silver  rosary ! 
After  starting  lovingly,  why  is  there  hatred? 

Good  evening,  0  possessor  of  an  amber  rosary ! 
After  starting  lovingly,  why  dost  thou  fight? 

The   sands   cannot   be   kneaded,   nor   the   thorns 

trodden, 
Nor  the  secret  displayed  to  all  the  people. 

How  many  palms  have  we  climbed  without  ladder, 
And  how  many  offenses  of  friends  have  we  over- 
looked ! 

0  sweet,  0  beautiful,  thy  letter  came  to  us ; 
As  we  read  it  how  our  tears  flowed ! 

0  excellent  sweet,  moving  thy  lips. 

Thou  hast  wounded  hearts.     We  beg  thee  let  us 
come  to  thee. 

For  my  friend,  friendship  should  abide ; 
As  for  the  disloyal,  the  day  of  judgment  shall  find 
him. 

For  what  reason  dost  thou  close  thine  eyes  with- 
out sleeping? 
Thou  pleasest  me  not,  but  other  people. 

1  shall  rush  on  you  at  noon,  you  who  are  in  my 

mind. 
With  the  sword  shall  I  charge  you  in  the  darkness 
of  the  night; 


88      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

0  beloved,  0  beloved,  thou  whom  the  heart  de- 

sires, 
Thou  wilt  weep  tears  of  grief  when  thou  seest  us. 

1  passed  by  their  house  and  said  not  a  word ; 
The  tears  from  my  eyes  dropped  before  me  on  the 

stone. 

The  tree  of  love  is  cast  out  by  the  gate  of  Damas- 
cus; 
I  was  dying,  and  my  friend  came  not  to  me. 

The  tree  of  love  at  the  gate  of  Damascus  is  sway- 
ing; 
I  was  dying,  and  my  friend  did  not  come  to  ask. 

0  tree  of  love,  at  the  gate  of  Damascus,  thou  art 

green ; 

1  was  near  to  dying,  and  my  friend  came  not  once. 

Do  not  think  that  good  style  consists  in  ample 

clothing : 
Good  style  is  providing  dishes  for  the  men. 

Do  not  think  that  good  style  consists  in  elegant 

robes : 
Good  style  consists  in  large  trenchers,  in  kindness 

and  generosity. 

0  Egypt,  oh,  how  far  off  art  thou,  in  whom  is  the 

beloved ! 
If  I  live  another  year  I  must  surely  live  in  thee. 


A    WEDDING    IN    PALESTINE       89 

0  sweet  one,  bring  thy  bottle,  and  we'll  drink  and 

fill  it: 
Thy  people  are  far,  and  thy  countr/s  water  is 
scarce. 

What  brought  thee  forth,  0  gazelle,  to  roam? 
To  look  on  thy  country,  0  sweet,  and  return. 

What    brought    thee    from    thy    country,    single, 
alone  ? 

1  want  to  look  on  thy  country,  and  I  want  a 

friend. 


CHAPTEE   VIII 

PLANT   LIFE   OF   THE   HOLY   LAND 

Palestine  is  referred  to  in  the  Bible  as 
a  land  ^*  flowing  with  milk  and  honey." 
A  visitor  to  Palestine  to-day  would  won- 
der at  the  absurdity  of  such  a  statement, 
for  how  could  a  land  where  even  water 
does  not  flow  produce  milk  and  honey? 
The  soil  of  Palestine  to-day  is  very  stony, 
and  its  herbage  mostly  wild-flowers,  except 
in  scattered  places  where  the  land  is  cul- 
tivated, and  even  then  wild  growth  shares 
existence  with  what  is  planted. 

Trees  in  Palestine  are  divided  by  the 
natives  into  two  classes:  those  that  pro- 
duce food  and  those  that  do  not.  The 
latter  are  never  cultivated,  and  what  few 
grow  in  spite  of  the  people  are  cut  down 
and  used  to  make  fuel. 

90 


PLANT  LIFE  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND      91 

The  most  important  of  the  useful  trees 
is  the  olive-tree.  It  has  a  leaf  varying 
from  an  inch  and  one-fourth  to  two  inches 
in  length  and  about  one-third  of  an  inch 
in  width,  and  tapering  to  a  point  at  the 
end.  Olive  blossoms  grow  in  tiny  clusters 
just  inside  the  leaf.  An  olive-tree  resem- 
bles a  chestnut-tree  in  shape,  and  when 
old,  its  trunk  has  the  same  scaly  appear- 
ance. Its  wood  has  a  very  beautiful  grain 
and  is  extensively  used  in  the  cities  to 
make  souvenirs  for  tourists.  Of  the  fruit 
and  its  use,  I  have  already  spoken. 

Next  in  importance  comes  the  fig-tree. 
It  resembles  the  poplar  in  growth.  It  has 
a  leaf  about  the  size  of  the  human  hand, 
and  fringed.  Its  fruit  is  valued  by  the 
people,  and  is  dried  for  winter  use.  It  is 
not  seedy  when  ripe,  and  I  have  often 
wondered  whether  seedless  dried  figs  could 
be  had  if  the  figs  were  dried  at  this  stage. 
Figs  are  allowed  to  dry  and  over-ripen  on 
the  tree,  and  are  picked  up  when  they  fall 
to  the  ground,  and  then  given  some  addi- 


92      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

tional  drying  before  they  are  ready  for 
storage. 

Apple-trees  do  not  thrive  as  well  in  Pal- 
estine as  they  do  farther  north.  Two  or 
three  varieties  of  pears  grow,  but  are  sel- 
dom cultivated. 

The  pomegranate-tree  has  a  very  beau- 
tiful bud.  Its  fruit  out  of  season  is  a  rare 
delicacy,  and  is  supposed  to  be  very  nour- 
ishing to  the  sick.  On  the  plains  of  the 
maritime  districts  grow  orange-trees  and 
lemon-trees.  The  cactus,  at  times  a  tree 
and  at  times  a  bush,  thrives  in  dry  and 
sandy  places.  Its  fruit,  although  extremely 
seedy,  is  well-liked  and  considered  very 
healthful. 

On  the  hillsides  grow  the  carob  and  oak. 
The  former  is  excellent  as  a  shade-tree, 
while  the  latter  furnishes  choice  fuel  when 
made  into  charcoal.  Of  other  trees,  we 
have  the  pine,  cypress,  mulberry,  date, 
apricot,  sycamore,  plum,  and  cherry.  No 
berry-bushes  are  grown,  but  some  very 
choice  vegetation  thrives  near  water,  such 


PLANT  LIFE  OF  THE  HOLY  LAND      93 

as  lettuce,  radishes,  onions,  tomatoes,  and 
garlic.  Potatoes  and  beets  are  very  sel- 
dom raised. 

The  flowers  are  many  and  varied,  and  I 
shall  mention  a  few  of  them.  Violets  grow 
among  the  rocks  and  in  crevices  of  ledges 
where  there  is  shade  and  moisture.  Un- 
like American  wild  violets,  these  are  very 
fragrant.  Tulips  and  anemones  are  very 
numerous,  especially  the  latter.  It  is  very 
likely  that  when  Jesus  said,  **  Consider 
the  lilies,"  he  referred  to  them. 

On  Palm  Sunday  I  joined  other  boys  in 
carrying  olive  branches  for  palms.  Among 
the  olive  leaves  we  stuck  anemones  and 
other  flowers,  thus  producing  a  beautiful 
effect  when  we  went  to  church.  This  effect 
did  not  last  long,  for  just  as  soon  as  the 
church  ceremonies  were  over,  a  melee  fol- 
lowed and  we  began  beating  one  another 
with  the  olive  branches.  The  flowers  suf- 
fered fully  as  much  as  we  did. 

**  Siray-H-Ghouleh  "  starts  the  flower 
season  in  mid-fall.    It  has  a  white  blossom, 


94      WHEN  I  WA8  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

sometimes  tinged  with  blue  or  red.  Its 
bulb,  which  has  to  be  dug  from  the  ground, 
has  the  shape  of  an  old-fashioned  oil  lamp. 
We  used  to  carve  these  out  and  fill  them 
with  olive  oil,  and  by  putting  wicks  into 
them  we  could  produce  a  light.  That  is 
why  this  plant  is  called  the  ''  lamp  of  the 
Ghouleh.'' 

'*  Thalyoon  Seedy,*'  '^  the  pipe  of  my 
grandfather,''  is  another  flower  that  grows 
from  a  bulb.  The  narcissus  grows  out  of 
an  onion-like  bulb.  The  wild  variety  ap- 
pears just  before  Easter  and  continues  in 
bloom  until  a  little  later.  It  grows  near 
ledges  or  stone-walls. 

There  are  also  yellow  clover,  Venus 's 
looking-glass,  acacia,  wild  mignonette.  Ma- 
donna flower,  larkspur,  flax,  saffron,  ever- 
lasting camphire,  buttercups,  and  numer- 
ous fruit  blossoms,  as  well  as  many  flow- 
ering plants  concerning  which  I  must 
plead  ignorance  through  having  had  no 
systematic  instruction  in  botany. 


CHAPTER   IX 

MY   RACE   AND   MY    MOTHER   TONGUE 

Andrew  Crithton,  LL.  D.,  says  of  Arabia 
and  its  people : 

**  To  those  who  delight  to  study  man  in 
his  pastoral  simplicity,  to  moralize  on  the 
destiny  of  nations  or  the  rise  and  fall  of 
empires,  the  history  of  Arabia  cannot  fail 
to  be  attractive.  From  time  immemorial  it 
has  been  celebrated  for  its  precious  pro- 
ductions, and  distinguished  as  the  home  of 
liberty  and  independence ;  the  only  land  in 
all  antiquity  that  never  bowed  to  the  yoke 
of  a  foreign  conqueror.  It  continues  to 
be  inhabited  at  this  day  by  a  race  co-eval 
with  the  first  ages  of  mankind.  Their 
manners  still  present  that  crude  freedom 
and  patriarchal  simplicity,  which  we  find 
in  the  infancy  of  society,  before  art  had 
taught  man  to  restrain  the  sentiments  of 
nature,  or  disguise  the  original  features 
of  their  character. 

**  This  extraordinary  people  have  not 
only  preserved  inviolate  the  dominion  of 
their   deserts    and   their   pastures;     they 

95 


96      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

have  also,  with  a  singular  tenacity,  re- 
tained from  age  to  age,  and  in  spite  of 
changes  and  revolutions,  the  vices  and 
virtues,  the  habits  and  customs  of  their 
ancestors,  without  borrowing  improve- 
ment from  the  progress  of  knowledge  or 
their  intercourse  with  other  nations.'' 

The  marked  unchangeableness  of  the 
Arabs  may  be  partly  explained  by  a  study 
of  the  country  in  which  they  dwell.  Its 
vast  plains  or  barren  sands  have  undoubt- 
edly required  such  a  life  as  the  Arab  has 
lived,  and  continues  to  live.  It  is  an  unde- 
niable fact  that  the  Arabian  race  has  been 
slow  to  progress,  although  it  is  one  of 
the  noblest  of  all  races. 

The  Arabians  are  not  unlike  the  Amer- 
ican Indians  in  temperament,  only  they 
are  not  treacherous.  Like  the  Indians, 
they  are  divided  into  tribes.  They  never 
have  been  conquered,  and  probably  never 
will  be;  they  are  brave  and  freedom- 
loving.  Their  wealth,  like  that  of  Abra- 
ham and  other  patriarchs  of  old,  lies  in 
flocks  and  herds  which  are  tended  by  the 


MY   RACE  97 

dark-skinned,  free-spirited  children  of  the 
desert,  who  roam  about  in  search  of  water 
and  pasture.  The  tragedy  at  the  well,  so 
many  times  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  is 
often  repeated  when  two  herders  meet  at 
a  well  to-day. 

A  stranger,  or  even  a  fugitive,  is  safe 
when  he  is  under  the  roof  of  an  Arab  tent, 
or  if  he  only  touches  the  peg  or  cord  of 
the  tent.  To  provide  for  the  security  of 
his  guest  is  a  point  of  highest  honor  with 
the  Arab.  To  eat  under  the  same  roof,  or 
from  the  same  dish,  constitutes  a  bond  of 
brotherhood.  Any  guest  may  claim  hos- 
pitality from  an  Arab  for  three  days  and 
three  nights.  The  guest  is  required  to 
show  appreciation  and  courtesy,  but  he 
must  not  offer  any  payment  for  his  enter- 
tainment. 

Injury  for  injury,  blood  for  blood,  is  the 
stern  law  of  Arabs,  and  tribe  stands  to 
tribe  as  man  to  man.  The  lex  talionis  is 
in  full  force,  and  each  man  in  the  tribe  is 
answerable  for  the  other.     Eevenge  may 


98      WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

be  said  to  be  a  ruling  passion  with  the 
Arab,  but  his  high  ideal  of  hospitality 
softens  much  of  its  relentlessness.  If  the 
man-slayer  can  only  penetrate  his  enemy's 
tent  and  eat  bread  there,  he  may  claim 
sanctuary,  and  even  protection,  from  the 
avenger  himself.  After  he  has  enjoyed 
this  hospitality,  he  may  depart  and  not  be 
pursued  until  two  days  and  two  nights 
have  elapsed.  Each  tribe  has  its  sheik, 
or  chief,  who  administers  justice.  Most 
sheiks  are  famed  in  deed  and  story  for 
their  integrity  and  for  the  equity  of  their 
judgments.    They  scorn  bribes. 

The  love  and  devotion  of  the  Arab  for 
his  steed  have  been  sung  in  many  tongues 
and  in  many  lands.  His  fondness  for  his 
worthy  horse  often  becomes  a  craze ;  he  is 
his  first  care,  and  the  owner  of  a  good 
horse  will  seldom,  if  ever,  part  with  him 
for  any  consideration. 

As  they  are  nominally  Moslems,  Arabs 
believe  in  the  existence  of  God,  of  whom 
they  are  the  special  favorites.    They  will 


\ 


MY  RACE  99 

thank  God  as  heartily  for  success  in  a  rob- 
ber-raid or  a  battle  as  they  would  for  re- 
covery from  sickness. 

They  have  no  truly  great  philosophers, 
in  the  modern  meaning  of  the  word.  Their 
philosophers  are  highly  gifted  men,  whose 
wit  and  clever  repartee  flashes  forth  in 
sparkling  epigram  and  poetry.  Their 
work  lacks  the  system  of  the  Western 
thinkers,  but  it  is  more  far-reaching,  and 
often  has  a  more  natural  basis.  Arabs 
are  original  in  everything,  but  they  do  not 
develop  their  originality  into  chain-like 
systems.  Take  the  Koran,  for  example. 
It  is  a  collection  of  highly  original  ideas, 
but  they  lack  the  systemization  which  St. 
PauPs  Eoman  training  gave  to  Christian- 
ity. The  religion  of  Islam  is  not  an  entity, 
and  cannot  therefore  be  fought  effectively 
by  missionaries.  It  is  like  the  mythical 
seven-headed  snake;  try  as  you  may,  you 
cannot  behead  it. 

You  can  see  by  what  I  have  said  that  the 
Arabs  are  an  impulsive  and  brilliant  peo- 


100    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

pie.  Certainly  there  is  nothing  in  tlie  an- 
nals of  human  history  to  compare  with  the 
sudden  and  overwhelming  uprising  which 
occurred  about  the  middle  of  the  seventh 
century  in  this  obscure  corner  of  the  world. 
In  this  movement  we  have  the  spectacle 
of  a  united  Arab  race  dimming  all  exag- 
gerated records  of  heroic  and  mythical 
conquest.  All  that  we  read  about  the 
fabled  monarchies  of  Egypt  and  Babylon, 
the  boasted  expeditions  of  Cyrus  and  Alex- 
ander, the  vast  regions  overrun  by  the 
Mongols,  the  Tartars,  and  the  Teutons,  or 
even  the  first  Eoman  Empire  at  the  zenith 
of  its  power  in  the  Augustan  age,  will  bear 
no  comparison  to  this  dominion  of  the 
Arab.  From  the  Pillars  of  Hercules  to  the 
land  of  the  '^  Son  of  Heaven,"  from  the 
Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  did  these  sons  of 
the  desert  extend  their  conquests,  at  one 
time  ruling  three-fourths  of  Asia. 

The  pride  of  every  Arab  is  his  mother 
tongue,  for  it  links  him  with  the  glorious 
past  of  his  race.    Although  they  have  no 


MY  BACK^.:\\l^  ,  ;       ,101 

national  literature,  the  Arabs  have  a  con- 
siderable body  of  traditions  and  inspiring 
poetry.  It  is  deplorable  to  find  that  the 
people  relied  entirely  upon  their  memories 
and  kept  no  written  record  of  these  pro- 
ductions. One  reason  why  no  great  litera- 
ture has  been  developed  is  the  fact  that 
Arabic  is  a  dual  language. 

This  phenomenon  of  a  race  having  two 
distinct  and  different  sets  of  idioms  is  not 
confined  to  the  Arabs :  Greece  has  two  lan- 
guages, the  modern  and  the  classic.  The 
classic,  or  book,  Arabic  is  called  *  ^  Fasih, ' ' 
while  the  common,  spoken  language  is 
*^  Arabi  Darij."  Being  regarded  as  a 
base  vernacular,  incapable  of  elegant  ex- 
pression, the  spoken  language  is  abso- 
lutely barred  from  literature.  The  state 
of  affairs  is  similar  to  that  in  Italy  before 
Dante  wrote  his  ^  ^  Divina  Commedia  ' '  and 
his  *'  Convito,''  in  which  he  set  forth  his 
reasons  for  using  the  living  Italian  instead 
of  the  dead  Latin.  It  may  also  be  likened 
to  the  condition  in  England  before  Chaucer 


102    WUM.i.WA8  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

helped  to   fix  the   new  language   by  his 
writings. 

The  disadvantages  of  a  dual  language 
are  many  and  great.  It  is  hard  for  an 
American  to  understand  how  a  people  can 
have  such  contempt  for  the  language  they 
use  in  daily  intercourse  and  business,  and 
how  an  artificial  tongue,  now  learned  only 
in  school,  can  prevail  over  the  one  learned 
in  the  home  and  used  habitually.  This 
condition  naturally  affects  education,  and 
the  child  who  has  learned  to  call  a  horse 
*  *  horse, ' '  must  unlearn  it,  and  call  a  horse 
**  steed,''  in  the  same  way  learning  **  oc- 
ciput ''  for  *^  head.*'  American  boys  and 
girls  can  see  at  once  the  hardships  placed 
in  the  way  of  an  Arabian  aspiring  to  an 
education.  Another  practical  disadvan- 
tage of  the  two  languages  is  its  check  to 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  the 
masses.  Thus  it  is  that  the  Holy  of 
Holies  in  Arabic  literature  is  closed,  ex- 
cept to  the  select  few  who  can  spend  the 
time  to  become  educated.    The  reasons  for 


MY   RACE  103 

this  tenacity  in  restricting  the  vulgar 
tongue  to  speech  are  literary,  political,  and 
religions,  and  do  not  concern  us  in  this 
narrative. 

The  literary  amusement  of  the  masses  is 
left  to  the  mercy  of  a  few  commercial 
writers  who  have  no  artistic  reputations  at 
stake.  Antar,  Abu  Zeid,  El-Zeer,  and  Bei- 
bars  are  recited  by  professional  minstrel- 
bards,  like  the  Homeric  rhapsodies.  Eager 
throngs  of  common  people  may  be  seen 
eagerly  listening  to  these  truly  national 
epics  in  the  coffee-houses,  or  in  tribal 
chambers.  ^  *  Alf  Layleh  wa  Leyleh, ' ' 
*^  Arabian  Nights,"  is  also  enjoyed  and 
understood  by  the  masses.  What  we  need 
is  a  Dante  or  a  Cervantes  to  put  power 
into  the  spoken  tongue. 

Arabic  is  famous  for  its  proverbs  and 
fables,  of  which  I  am  translating  a  few 
into  English. 

"  A  word  from  the  heart  reaches  the  heart. 
A  word  from  the  tongue  reaches  only  the  ears." 


104    WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

Of  extremes  it  is  said ;  ^  *  The  feeblest  is 
he  who  is  not  able  to  keep  his  secret;  the 
strongest  is  he  who  masters  his  anger; 
the  most  patient  is  he  who  hides  poverty; 
and  the  wealthiest  is  he  who  is  contented. ' ' 

A  king  once  asked  a  wise  man,  **  What 
is  the  essence  of  knowledge?  " 

He  answered,  **  To  know  one's  self.'' 

**  What  is  the  best  of  reason?  " 

'^  To  back  up  one's  science  or  knowledge 
by  his  actions." 

El-Mustasimi,  a  noted  philosopher,  says, 
*^  Bear  not  in  one  day  the  troubles  of  a 
year.  It  is  enough  for  you  to  think  of 
what  was  fated  for  you  for  that  day,  and 
if  you  live  out  the  year,  God  will  give  a 
new  day  for  all  new  troubles.  But  if  you 
do  not  live  the  year,  you  must  leave  what 
is  not  your  own." 

El-Suyuti  says,  **  Eight  things  bring  de- 
jection to  a  man : 

**  (1)  Sitting  at  a  table  to  which  he  is 
not  invited. 

''  (2)  Bossing  the  master  of  the  house. 


MY  RACE  105 

^'  (3)  Hoping  for  good  from  enemies. 
^^  (4)  *  Butting  '  into  a  conversation  be- 
tween two  when  they  have  not  invited  him. 
''  (5)  Despising  the  Sultan. 
*'  (6)  Sitting  above  his  station. 
''  (7)  Talking  when  no  one  hears. 
^*  (8)  Friendship  of  the  undeserving." 
El-Shibrawi  says  in  poetry: 

"  Praise  not  a  man  until  you  try  him, 
And  do  not  slander  him  without  trial. 
For  men  are  locked  boxes 

That  have  no  keys  save  trials." 

Ibn  El-Flactaky  says  of  a  book,  ^*  It  is 
a  friend  that  does  not  lie  nor  tire,  and  will 
not  blame  you  if  you  thrust  it  aside,  nor 
will  it  give  away  your  secrets.'* 

Some  one  says  of  inevitable  conse- 
quences :  *  ^  Wealth  follows  diligence ;  pov- 
erty, laziness;   sickness,  gluttony.'' 

Omar-ibn-Hkhattab  says,  **  Leave  glut- 
tony alone,  for  it  will  make  you  a  sloven 
at  prayer,  rotten  at  heart,  and  sick  in  the 
body." 


106    WHEN  I  WA8  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

Speaking  of  the  value  of  man,  El-Ab- 
sheehy  says,  * '  Man  is  what  he  grows,  and 
not  where  he  was  planted;  where  he  is  to 
be  found,  and  not  where  he  was  born.'' 

Ali  Ameer  El-Mumineen  (the  Prince  of 
the  Faithful)  said  of  education,  ^^  For  the 
rich  it  is  ornamental;  for  the  poor  a 
treasure;  a  help  in  difficulty;  a  friend  in 
company  and  repartee ;  a  consolation  when 
one  is  alone.'' 

El-Shebrawy  sums  up  his  philosophy  by 
saying,  ^^  Knowledge  (or  science)  is  the 
friend  of  the  faithful  one;  generosity,  his 
adviser;  the  mind,  his  guide;  work,  his 
leader;  and  patience,  the  prince  of  his 
armies. ' ' 

From  these  words  of  the  wise  and  rep- 
resentative men  of  the  race  you  can  get 
some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  Arab 
and  form  a  better  estimate  of  his  morals 
than  would  otherwise  be  possible. 

Arabic  literature  abounds  in  fables,  in 
which  dumb  animals  are  personified.  Most 
of  the  fables  have  morals.     One  is  about 


MY   RACE  107 

a  cat,  who,  entering  a  blacksmith's  shop, 
started  licking  a  file,  and  thinking  it  was 
the  file  that  bled,  he  licked  his  tongue  out 
and  died.  Moral:  a  fool  is  not  aware  of 
his  folly,  while  sinister  ambition  holds 
sway  over  him. 

The  fox  is  portrayed  as  the  most  cun- 
ning, the  lion  as  the  most  powerful,  and 
the  wolf  as  the  most  fierce  of  animals. 
One  time  a  fox,  being  extremely  thirsty, 
found  a  well  with  two  buckets,  one  on  each 
end  of  a  rope,  fixed  to  a  pulley.  He  sat 
in  one  of  the  buckets,  went  down  into  the 
well  and  had  a  drink.  A  hyena  came  along 
and  saw  the  reflection  of  the  half-moon  in 
the  water. 

**  What  are  you  doing?  ''  he  asked  the 
fox. 

*  *  I  have  eaten  one-half  of  this  excellent 
cheese,"  the  fox  answered.  **  Won't  you 
come  down  and  have  the  rest!  " 

/*  Yes,  but  how  can  I  come  down  I  " 

**  That  is  simple  enough,"  returned  the 
wily  fox.    ^ '  Sit  down  in  the  other  bucket. ' ' 


108    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

The  hyena  did  as  the  fox  told  him,  and 
being  the  heavier,  he  went  down  into  the 
well,  and  the  fox  came  np. 

A  man  owned  a  donkey  who  did  nothing 
but  eat,  and  an  ox  who  did  nothing  but 
work.  So  one  day  the  ox  complained  of 
his  condition  to  the  donkey  and  asked  for 
his  wise  advice. 

*^  Make  believe  you  are  sick,"  said  the 
donkey,  **  and  do  not  eat  your  grain,  when 
it  is  offered  to  you,  and  our  master,  think- 
ing you  are  ill,  will  give  you  the  rest  you 
need." 

The  ox  followed  this  advice,  and  the  next 
day  things  went  just  as  the  clever  donkey 
had  predicted,  but  there  was  one  thing 
which  the  donkey  had  not  foreseen.  The 
owner,  who  had  to  have  his  work  done, 
hitched  the  donkey  to  the  plow,  and  worked 
him  all  day.  That  evening  the  ox  found 
the  donkey  downcast,  and  when  he  asked 
the  reason,  the  donkey  replied: 

*  *  My  friend,  I  heard  our  owner  say  that 
if  you  did  not  recover  soon,  he  would  have 


MY  RACE  109 

to  kill  you  lest  lie  lose  you.  I  advise  you, 
therefore,  to  go  back  to  work  and  eat  your 
grain  as  usual. '^ 

So  the  ox  went  to  work,  thus  relieving 
the  donkey. 

Here  are  a  few  Arabic  proverbs  that 
Professor  Grant  has  translated. 

**  Habibi  habibi  walau  kan  abdaswad  " 
—  *  *  I  would  love  my  love,  though  he  were 
a  black  slave.  *' 

**  La  takul  HI  maghanny  ghanny  wala 
lil  rakas  urkus  "  —  ^*  Never  tell  a  singer 
to  sing  nor  a  dancer  to  dance.''  (This 
signifies  natural  obstinacy.) 

'^  Tuh  il-jarrah  ala  fimha,  titla  il  bint 
mithl  imha  ' '  —  *  ^  Turn  the  jar  on  its 
mouth,  the  daughter  comes  up  like  her 
mother.''  (The  first  part  is  put  in  for 
rhyme,  and  the  whole  proverb  refers  to 
family  resemblances.) 

* '  Lubbis  il-oud  ya  jud  "  —  *  *  Clothe  a 
stick  of  wood  and  it  will  do  well  (or  look 
well)." 

**  Idalikur  ibu-dhib  wahayilo  il-kadib  " 


110    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

—  ''If  you  think  of  tlie  wolf,  get  the  stick 
ready  for  him/' 

'' Il-haribeh  tlulthein  il  marajel  "  — 
''  Kunning  away  is  two-thirds  of  valor.'' 

'' Yama  Kassar  hajjamal  battikh  "  — 
'*  Oh,  how  often  this  camel  broke  mel- 
ons! ''  This  is  said  of  one  who,  having 
done  well,  ends  by  spoiling  his  work. 

''  Kallil  il-haky  tutal  wakuthrutuh  fad- 
dah  "  — ' '  Diminish  the  talk  and  you  will 
rest:   increase  it,  and  have  trouble." 

**  Ish-sharaf  ahsan  min  Khazayin  mal  " 
— ' '  Honor  is  better  than  treasure-chests 
of  wealth. ' ' 

''Fi  Ab  ikta  il-kutuf  wala  thhab"  — 
''  In  August  cut  the  bunch  (grapes)  and 
fear  not  (its  being  unripe)." 

' '  Ala  kadar  firashak  midd  rijleck  ' '  — 
''  According  to  the  measure  of  your  bed 
stretch  your  legs. ' '  This  proverb  is  quoted 
in  favor  of  living  within  one's  means. 

**  Ish-shay  matta  ma  zad  nukus  "  — 
'*  Anything  carried  to  excess  diminishes." 
This  proverb  advises  against  overdoing. 


MY  RAGE  111 

*' Kalb  hamit  khurj  mal ''  —  **  A  dog 
carrying  a  saddle-bag  of  wealth/'  TMs 
refers  to  an  unworthy  owner  of  riches. 

'  ^  Hafith  alas-sadik  walan  fil-harik  ' '  — 
**  Care  for  your  friend,  though  he  be  in 
the  fire.*' 

'^  Al-mal  il-falit  yuallim  in-nas  it  ha- 
ram  "  —  ^  *  Unguarded  property  teaches 
people  to  steal." 

' '  Khaye  ul-omouri  1-wasat  "  —  *  *  The 
best  of  things  is  the  moderate." 

''  Is-subru  miftah  il-faraj  "  —  ^^  Pa- 
tience is  the  key  of  relief." 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  RULEES   OF   PALESTIICB 

To  know  sometMng  about  the  lives  and 
customs  of  a  people,  one  must  also  study 
their  government.  Since  there  is  not  room 
in  this  book  to  take  up  the  long  record  of 
the  past,  we  shall  have  to  leave  it  to  the 
historians,  and  just  concern  ourselves  with 
the  present  conditions  in  Palestine.  As 
you  probably  know,  Palestine  is  a  part  of 
Turkey,  and  is  therefore  affected  by  the 
events  and  changes  which  take  place  in 
that  vast  empire.  The  comparatively  re- 
cent seizure  of  the  Turkish  government  by 
the  Young  Turks  is  naturally  an  affair  of 
most  vital  importance  to  Palestine. 

Why  have  the  Young  Turks  failed? 
Will  Turkey  ever  regain  her  lost  place  of 
prestige  among  the  powers  of  the  world? 
These  are  questions  that  we  naturally  ask 

112 


THE  RULER8  OF  PALESTINE    113 

when  we  hear  Turkey's  failure  in  the  re- 
cent Balkan  war  mentioned.  Yet  it  is  true 
that  the  failure  of  the  Young  Turks  at 
government  is  even  more  disastrous,  al- 
though less  glaring,  than  their  failure  at 
arms.  In  1909  these  reformers,  having 
cast  down,  once  and  for  all,  their  former 
persecutor,  Abdul  Hamid,  started  a  new 
government  with  the  sympathy  of  the 
entire  world.  They  were  undoubtedly  edu- 
cated men,  and  had  spent  many  years  of 
exile  in  foreign  courts  where  good  and 
efficient  government  prevailed.  There 
they  had  seen  the  automatic  methods  of 
civilization  in  operation.  They  had  seen 
how  a  group  of  independent  nations  may 
be  molded  into  a  powerful  unit  as  in  Ger- 
many, or  how  many  elements  and  different 
nationalities  may  be  united  to  live  and  die 
under  a  single  flag  as  in  the  United  States. 
They  had  seen  all  this  and  more,  and  yet 
they  failed  when  they  came  to  govern 
themselves. 
The  world's  sympathy  and  the  good- will 


114    WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

of  their  neighbors  were  not  the  only  ad- 
vantages the  Young  Turks  enjoyed.  In 
Turkey  itself  all  the  discordant  races  were 
casting  aside  their  animosities  and  per- 
sonal ambitions,  and  bending  their  necks 
to  the  yoke  that  promised  to  make  for  them 
a  home  which  they  could  love  and  protect 
and  enjoy  in  freedom.  The  Armenian  and 
the  Greek  became  as  enthusiastic  for  the 
new  Turkey  as  the  Mohammedan  and  the 
Christian.  Mount  Lebanon,  the  little  na- 
tion which,  under  the  protection  of  the 
Powers,  maintains  an  independent  govern- 
ment, was  about  to  renounce  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Powers  and  join  Turkey. 
Everybody  was  drunk  with  the  wine  of 
the  New  Nationalism.  They  wanted  to 
wrest  Egypt  from  the  British.  They 
wanted  to  invite  Persia  to  come  into  their 
fold  and  be  free,  and  they  wanted  even  to 
defy  Eussia.  Many  editors  of  papers,  who 
were  then  abroad,  returned  to  boom  the 
new  nation.  At  home  and  abroad  it  had 
an  auspicious  support. 


TEE  RULERS   OF   PALESTINE     115 

Mesopotamia  was  to  be  reclaimed  from 
a  dead  and  useless  waste,  and  transformed 
into  the  Garden  of  Eden  that  it  had  been 
in  former  times,  when  it  supported  twelve 
million  inhabitants  of  Nineveh  and  Baby- 
lonia. Furthermore,  it  was  to  be  given  to 
the  industrious,  yet  heretofore  abhorred 
and  despised  Jews.  Could  one  ask  for  bet- 
ter signs  to  show  the  sincerity  of  the  peo- 
ple's enthusiasm?  Railroads  were  being 
constructed,  and  foreign  advisers  were 
secured  to  put  the  finances  of  the  new 
nation  on  a  rock  basis;  its  custom-houses 
and  post-offices  were  being  made  more 
efficient;  telegraph  and  telephone  lines 
were  being  installed.  Germany  took  upon 
herself  the  sponsoring  of  the  Turkish 
army,  and  England  was  to  build  and  train 
her  navy. 

All  this  did  not  avail  the  nation.  And 
the  pertinently  human  question  is:  why 
has  failure,  and  not  success,  crowned  so 
much  human  effort!  When  all  the  mate- 
rial and  the  laborers  are  ready,  why  has 


116    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

the  structure  not  resulted?  To  any  one 
who  has  made  a  study  of  governments,  the 
answer  is  obvious :  who  possessed  the  skill 
for  such  an  undertaking? 

The  very  first  thing  the  new  government 
had  to  do  was  to  ^  upon  one  language 
as  the  official,  national  average.  The  Ara- 
bic, the  mother  tongue  of  the  Turkish,  was 
the  logical  choice:  it  is  more  widely 
spoken  than  any  of  the  other  dozen  or  so 
dialects;  it  is  the  language  that  would 
have  encountered  the  least  rivalry  and  in- 
vited the  least  antagonism;  and,  finally, 
Arabic  is  the  language  of  religion.  The 
Young  Turks  cast  all  these  points  aside, 
and  made  Turkish  the  national  language 
to  the  strict  exclusion  of  all  others.  This 
action  had  its  immediate  results  in  the 
uprisings  in  Arabia  and  Albania.  It  was 
their  first  tactical  mistake,  but  it  was  not 
serious  enough  in  itself  to  break  up  the 
nation. 

The  greatest  error  of  the  new  regime 
was  in  not  giving  some  measure  of  local 


THE   RULERS   OF   PALESTINE     117 

govemment  to  the  different  races.  Austria 
almost  exhausted  herself  trying  to  sub- 
due Hungary  by  force;  so  she  solved  the 
problem  by  making  Hungary  a  part  of  the 
Empire  with  local  self-government.  The 
cases  of  Ireland,  Poland  and  other  coun- 
tries may  be  cited.  Turkey  could  not  make 
a  Turk  of  the  Armenian,  nor  of  the  Greek, 
and  certainly  not  of  the  race-proud  Arab. 
But  the  Young  Turks  tried  to  do  this,  and 
in  so  doing  they  made  their  fundamental 
mistake.  They  wounded  the  fibre  of  the 
nation-to-be,  and  then  trampled  on  it. 
Everything  had  to  go  through  Constanti- 
nople, everything  had  to  come  out  of  it. 
The  delay  and  red  tape  of  the  proceedings 
disappointed,  and,  later  on,  angered  the 
other  races. 

The  third  great  cause  for  the  failure  of 
the  Young  Turks  was  in  the  matter  of 
elections.  The  Constitution  provided  for 
a  two-house  rule,  like  that  of  all  other 
civilized  nations.  The  members  of  both 
were  to  be  elective,  but  this  clause  was 


118    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

changed  by  an  amendment  which  permitted 
one-third  of  the  upper  house  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  king  and  his  cabinet.  As 
the  king  was  of  their  own  party,  the  Young 
Turks  were  always  assured  of  a  majority 
in  the  upper  house.  They  thus  defeated 
the  object  of  the  elections,  for  it  can  be 
seen  that  the  opposition  would  have  to  poll 
a  great  majority  of  the  elective  seats  in 
the  upper  house  to  offset  the  advantage 
of  the  Young  Turks  in  ^^  packing  ''  the 
house  with  one-third  of  its  membership. 
This  made  the  Young  Turks  unpopular. 
It  not  only  delayed  progress,  but  it  actu- 
ally put  Turkey  one  generation  back. 

The  fourth  big  cause  of  their  failure  was 
the  Newspaper  Act.  Following  the  proc- 
lamation of  the  much-abused  slogan,  ^  *  Lib- 
erty, Equality  and  Fraternity,'*  several 
thousand  papers  sprang  up.  Now  any  one 
who  has  watched  the  causes  and  results  of 
civilization,  realizes  the  powerful  influence 
of  a  free,  unhampered  press.  A  free  press 
is  not  only  a  necessity,  but  in  reality  a  part 


THE   RULERS   OF   PALESTINE     119 

of  a  free  government.  The  new  Turkish 
government  imprudently  forbade  the  pub- 
lication of  unauthorized  news,  and  en- 
forced its  prohibition,  because  it  controlled 
the  telegraph  and  other  lines  of  communi- 
cation. As  a  security  against  the  writing 
of  hostile  editorials  and  articles,  every 
newspaper  had  to  deposit  a  sum  of  money 
equivalent  to  five  hundred  dollars,  which 
may  not  seem  much  in  America,  but  is 
a  moderate  fortune  in  Turkey.  This  act 
killed  many  newspapers,  and  rendered  the 
others  servile  and  ineffectual  as  helpers 
and  educators  of  the  people.  The  ship  of 
state  in  Turkey  is  foundering  upon  the 
very  rocks  upon  which  a  stable  govern- 
ment should  be  founded. 

Will  Turkey  ever  recover?  That  is  a 
hard  question,  and  on  the  face  of  it  one 
will  answer  in  the  negative.  The  Turkish 
press  had  always  been  claiming  that  a  war, 
a  bitter,  foreign  war,  would  do  wonders  in 
unifying  the  races  and  awakening  the  la- 
tent strength  of  the  nation  by  reviving  its 


120    WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

consciousness  of  a  glorious  past.  Close 
upon  these  declarations  came  the  war  with 
Italy  over  Tripoli ;  but  that  did  not  strike 
at  the  heart  of  the  nation.  Hardly  had 
it  ended,  however,  when  the  Balkan  League 
declared  war.  This  was  to  be  the  test.  Its 
result,  beyond  the  loss  of  territory,  cannot 
yet  be  forecasted,  but  the  diplomats  seem 
to  expect  a  crash,  from  present  indications. 
The  most  ardent  friends  of  Turkey  are 
disappointed.  Palestine,  with  its  peace- 
ful people  of  Jerusalem  and  the  Holy 
Land,  wants  a  responsible,  efficient  govern- 
ment. The  tension  there  is  unbearable, 
and  even  Turkish  money  is  no  longer 
credited  by  the  masses.  The  young  men 
refuse  to  go  to  war,  preferring  rather  to 
leave  the  land  of  their  fathers.  My  home 
town,  a  small  place  of  ^ve  thousand  inhab- 
itants, can  claim  as  its  own  over  a  thou- 
sand young  men  in  foreign  lands,  chiefly 
America.  This  is  an  abnormal  condition, 
and  its  developments  will  be  full  of  human 
interest. 


CHAPTEE   XI 

THE  RELIGIONS   IN    PALESTINE 

Att,  the  people  of  Palestine  share  in  the 
belief  that  there  is  a  provident,  all-power- 
ful God.  ^^nsha  Allah''  (^^  If  God 
will  ")  is  often  uttered  by  all  alike  with 
a  feeling  of  resignation.  In  their  creeds 
and  dogmas  each  one  not  only  believes  that 
he  is  right,  but  that  every  one  who  disa- 
grees is  wrong.  Eeligion  distinguishes  a 
man  in  Palestine  as  nationality  does  in  the 
United  States.  ''  Shu  deenn?  "  (''  What 
is  his  religion?  ")  is  one  of  the  first  ques- 
tions they  ask  about  a  person.  Islam, 
Christianity,  and  Judaism  are  the  three 
important  divisions  of  religion  in  Pales- 
tine. 

Islam  was  founded  by  Nebi  (prophet) 
Mohammed  in  622.  Ten  years  later  all 
Arabia   was    Mohammedan,    and    Klalid 

121 


122    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

(the  ^^  Sword  of  God  '0  attempted  the  con- 
quest of  Palestine  by  a  holy  war,  and  was 
successful.  And  ever  since  the  Moslems, 
as  the  Mohammedans  are  called,  have  been 
its  rulers,  except  for  brief  periods  when 
the  Christian  Crusaders  captured  parts  of 
it.  The  conquerors  offered  the  inhabitants 
the  choice  of  three  things,  —  Islam,  trib- 
ute, or  death.  They  chose  tribute,  and  this 
has  been  the  policy  ever  since,  until  five 
years  ago,  in  1909,  the  new  Constitution 
substituted  military  service  for  tribute. 
Practically  no  Christians  embraced  the 
creed  of  Islam,  so  the  Moslems  of  Pales- 
tine are  descendants  of  the  conquering 
Arabs  who  settled  in  the  land;  they  are 
twice  as  numerous  as  the  Christians.  The 
descendants  of  Khalid  are  prominent  in 
the  life  of  Jerusalem  to-day ;  most  of  them 
are  men  of  noble  character  and  keen  in- 
tellect. 

The  Christian  people  are  either  Arabs, 
Greeks,  or  descendants  of  the  old  Crusa- 
ders.   In  Jifna,  a  small  village,  the  people 


THE  RELIGIONS  IN  PALESTINE    123 

are  too  fair  to  be  anything  but  Teutons  or 
their  descendants.  The  Jews  are  mostly 
strangers  in  their  old  land,  and  although 
they  are  becoming  numerous,  they  have  to 
be  very  humble,  sometimes  even  servile,  to 
be  allowed  to  exist  at  all.  Christians  and 
Moslems,  however,  get  along  together  bet- 
ter in  Palestine,  and  especially  in  Jeru- 
salem, than  in  any  other  part  of  Turkey. 
Fights  are  unheard  of  except  among  the 
boys;  massacres  are  absolutely  unknown. 
Moslems  are  of  two  kinds,  Sunnis  and 
Shiahs,  known  in  other  localities  as  Ma- 
tawleh  and  Ismarlijeh.  This  split  in  Islam 
was  caused  by  the  difference  which  arose 
concerning  the  succession  of  Mohammed. 
The  supporters  of  Abu  Bekr  became  Sun- 
nis, and  those  who  adhered  to  Ali  are  now 
Shiahs.  The  last  named  were  also  divided 
among  themselves  over  the  appointment 
of  an  Imam  Seik-ul-Aslam.  However, 
these  divisions  are  always  ignored  in  deal- 
ing with  a  common  foe,  a  policy  in  keeping 
with  an  Arabic  proverb,  * '  I  am  against  my 


124    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

cousin,  but  my  cousin  and  I  are  against  the 
world/' 

Among  the  many  Christian  sects  whicli 
maintain  headquarters  and  own  churches 
in  Jerusalem,  are  Abyssinians,  Armenians, 
Copts,  Greeks,  Eoman  Catholics,  Maro- 
nites,  Protestants,  and  Syriacs.  The  Ab- 
yssinians are  Africans.  They  have  a  mon- 
astery over  the  Church  of  St.  Helena,  and 
recently  they  built  a  large  church  in  the 
northwest  outskirts  of  the  city.  Many 
Abyssinian  pilgrims  tour  the  land,  living 
on  the  bounty  of  the  natives.  Some  of 
them  are  employed  as  domestic  servants. 

The  Armenians,  from  Armenia,  have  an 
archbishop,  who  acts  as  their  Pope.  They 
occupy  excellent  property  in  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  to  the  left  as  one 
enters  the  door.  Many  Armenians  are 
leaving  their  homes  and  coming  to  Jeru- 
salem to  live.  They  make  excellent  store- 
keepers and  craftsmen.  They  have  estab- 
lished a  school,  and  are  very  intellectual 
and  fond  of  education. 


THE   RELIGIONS  IN  PALESTINE    125 

The  Copts  are  the  Christians  from 
Egypt.  They  have  a  small  cave,  or 
^'  khorns,*'  where  they  hold  their  services. 
They  also  have  convents  of  mendicant 
monks. 

The  Greek  or  Orthodox  Christians  are 
the  most  numerous  in  Palestine,  and  are 
very  powerful  and  wealthy.  Their  cham- 
pion is  Eussia,  who  forces  Turkey  to  give 
them  liberal  terms.  They  own  the  main 
chapel  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepul- 
chre, which  they  call  **  Nuss  id-dinya,'' 
*'  the  center  of  the  world,"  and  they  sup- 
port many  large  convents,  both  in  Jeru- 
salem and  in  the  rest  of  Palestine.  Most 
of  the  peasant  Christians  are  Orthodox, 
and  have  native  priests  who  conduct  the 
service  chiefly  in  the  Arabic  language. 
Over  the  whole  Orthodox  church  is  the 
Patriarch,  the  Caliphate  of  St.  James. 
Although  very  arrogant,  he  is  obliged  to 
listen  to  the  demands  of  Eussia  and  the 
peasants. 

Latins,   or  Eoman   Catholics,   rely   for 


126    ^YEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

protection  and  patronage  on  France  and 
other  Catholic  nations.  They  also  have 
a  patriarch,  who  is  responsible  to  the  Pope. 
Their  Franciscan  monks  conduct  a  theo- 
logical college;  and  their  wealth  enables 
them  to  maintain  many  hospitals  and  alms- 
houses all  over  the  land,  especially  in  the 
Christian  villages.  They  establish  schools 
in  connection  with  all  their  work. 

Of  Protestants  there  are  three  impor- 
tant sects  that  claim  native  following.  The 
largest  and  most  powerful  is  the  Church 
of  England,  both  the  High  and  Low 
branches.  They  have  a  bishop,  whose 
jurisdiction  is  over  Palestine  and  Egypt, 
and  they  have  charge  of  two  colleges  in 
Jerusalem.  The  Low  Church  seems  to  take 
better  hold,  and  has  schools  all  over  Pal- 
estine. It  fact,  the  Episcopal  schools  have 
set  the  standard  for  the  school-system  in 
Palestine. 

Lutherans  and  Baptists  and  a  few  Ad- 
ventists  hold  services  in  Palestine.  There 
are  many  Prussian  Protestants  under  the 


TEE  RELIGIONS  IN  PALESTINE    127 

supervision  of  the  Bishop  of  the  Anglican 
Church.  The  bishopric  was  created  by  the 
concerted  action  of  England  and  Germany, 
and  they  alternate  in  electing  a  bishop. 

There  is  a  native  monthly  meeting  of  the 
Society  of  Friends  in  Earn  Allah.  It  is 
a  live  body,  and  has  the  credit  of  being 
the  only  native- supported  church  organi- 
zation in  Palestine.  The  Society  of 
Friends  in  America  support  the  Eli  and 
Sybil  Jones  Mission,  which  conducts  the 
best  girls'  school  and  training  home  in 
Palestine,  Syria,  or  Egypt.  They  also  sup- 
port a  school  for  boys. 

The  Syriacs  have  a  bishop  and  a  few 
monks.  They  speak  the  Syriac  language, 
a  relic  of  the  Aramaic  and  Assyrian  lan- 
guages. This  sect  is  of  no  importance  in 
Palestine,  although  in  northern  Syria  it 
claims  a  few  villages.  It  is  wonderful  how 
these  churches  survive  through  the  cen- 
turies of  wars  and  affliction. 

Each  church  has  its  own  clerical  cos- 
tumes and  its  own  language,  and  it  is  cer- 


128    WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOZ  m  PALESTINE 

tainly  bewildering  at  times  to  watch  the 
religious  parades  at  festivals.  Each  sect 
is  very  strict  in  the  maintenance  of  its  pos- 
sessions and  shrines,  and  will  allow  no 
trespassing.  An  incident  is  told  of  a  Latin 
monk,  who,  by  mistake,  allowed  the  broom 
he  was  using  to  touch  the  pavement  which 
belonged  to  the  Greeks.  Those  who  saw 
the  deed  resented  it,  and  pounced  upon 
him.  His  Latin  friends,  however,  came  to 
his  assistance,  and  a  free-for-all  fight  en- 
sued, in  which  priest  and  monk,  forgetting 
their  dignity,  took  a  hand.  The  peasant 
partisans  of  each  sect,  not  to  be  outdone, 
came  along  with  their  guns  and  clubs,  and 
made  things  more  interesting,  until  the 
soldiery  arrived  and  dispersed  the  fight- 
ers. 

Such  is  the  feeling  of  jealousy  between 
these  *'  Christians  "  that  they  could  not 
agree  upon  a  doorkeeper  to  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and  until  this  day 
Moslem  officials  are  to  be  found  inside  the 
church  with  the  key  in  their  possession. 


THE  RELIGIONS  IN  PALESTINE    129 

Easter  is  the  chief  festival  in  Palestine. 
It  takes  a  week  to  celebrate  it,  and  during 
that  time  the  last  week  of  Christ's  life  is 
rehearsed  amidst  brilliant  ceremonies,  not 
unlike  the  Passion-play  of  Oberammer- 
gan.  An  important  ceremony  takes  place 
during  Khmis  il-Gusul  {'^  Thursday  of  the 
Washing  ''),  commemorating  the  washing 
of  the  disciples'  feet  by  Christ.  Upon  this 
day,  under  the  gaze  of  great  crowds,  the 
Patriarch  of  the  Greeks  himself  washes  the 
feet  of  some  of  his  bishops. 

On  Saturday  of  Easter  week  as  many 
as  half  a  million  people  are  in  Jerusalem, 
for  the  Moslems  provide  a  counter  attrac- 
tion in  the  feast  of  Nebi  Mousa  in  order 
to  bring  the  Moslem  peasants  into  the  city. 
They  come  in  great  numbers,  and  go  to 
the  mosque.  Here  they  unfurl  their  old 
war  banners  of  green,  and  form  a  parade, 
probably  the  most  picturesque  of  its  kind 
in  the  world.  They  march  from  the 
mosque  to  the  shrine  of  Moses  near  the 
Dead  Sea.    The  fact  that  this  shrine  is, 


130    WHEN  I  WA8  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

undoubtedly,  fictitious  does  not  keep  down 
the  crowds.  It  takes  several  hours  to  watch 
the  parade  pass,  and  during  that  time  one 
sees  all  one  wants  to  of  fanatic  humanity. 
Some  of  the  sights  strike  awe  into  the 
hearts  of  thousands  of  children. 

The  Christians  are  not  inactive  on  Sat- 
urday, for  upon  that  day  ^*  En-Nour  '' 
(the  Light)  must  spring  out  of  the  old 
tomb  of  Christ  in  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  The  tomb  is  directly  under  the 
dome,  in  a  small  round  building  sur- 
rounded by  the  churches  of  all  the  sects. 
One  enters  the  first  room,  and  then, 
through  a  low  door,  the  next  one,  in  which 
to  the  right  lies  the  supposed  tomb.  Most 
modern  scholars  agree  that  Gordon's  tomb, 
described  in  the  chapter  on  Jerusalem,  is 
the  genuine  one,  but  the  controversy  is  still 
undecided.  This  tomb  is  of  gray  marble, 
about  a  foot  and  a  half  in  height.  People 
that  enter  kiss  the  marble,  and  slip  a  coin 
into  the  hand  of  the  polite  and  careful 
attendant.     The  marble  top  of  the  tomb 


TEE  RELIGIONS  IN  PALESTINE    131 

has  a  crack  that  runs  across  it,  and  it  is 
through  this  crack  that  the  light  must 
come  on  every  Easter  Saturday. 

Many  peasants  believe  that  this  light 
comes  directly  from  God  as  an  annual  mira- 
cle. They  also  believe  that  the  flame  will 
not  harm;  it  does  not  burn  until  it  gets 
into  the  hands  of  sinners.  Lanterns  are 
lighted  with  it  and  sent  post-haste  through 
the  country,  and  the  peasants  light  candles 
from  it,  taking  them  to  their  houses.  Just 
before  a  lantern  of  the  sacred  flame 
reaches  a  village,  the  men  carrying  it  form 
a  procession,  and  by  lifting  a  few  of  their 
number  on  to  their  shoulders,  they  can 
escort  the  light  in  lofty  triumph  into  the 
village.  First  they  go  to  the  church  and 
then  to  the  different  houses.  As  they 
enter  the  village,  they  sing  a  simple  chant 
with  great  enthusiasm. 

"  Sabt  in-noor  wa  ayyadua, 
Zurna  Kabir  Seyyadua, 
Seyyadua  Easa  1-Masseeh; 
Ma  Deen  ilia  Deen  In-Nasara.'* 


132    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

"We  have  made  a  feast  of  the  Saturday  of  the 

Light, 
We  have  visited  the  tombs  of  our  Master,  who  is 

Easa,  the  Christ; 
There  is  no  other  save  the  ^N'azarite^s  religion." 

Pilgrims  from  all  parts  of  the  Christian 
world  are  in  Jerusalem ;  most  of  these  are 
Enssians  in  long  boots  and  heavy  fur 
clothing.  Greek  priests  with  their  chim- 
ney-pot hats  are  seen  all  over  the  city, 
selling  candles  and  souvenirs  and  extort- 
ing coins  from  the  poor  Eussians,  and  by 
the  time  the  pilgrims  are  ready  to  depart 
for  the  land  of  the  Great  Bear,  these  con- 
temptible priests  have  stripped  them  of  all 
their  money  and  even  the  choice  pieces  of 
fur  that  make  parts  of  their  clothing.  The 
priests  remind  me  of  a  famous  passage 
in  Milton's  *'  Lycidas  "  and  Euskin's 
graphic  dissertation  on  it.  These  are  Mil- 
ton's lines: 

"  Last  came,  and  last  did  go. 

The  pilot  of  the  Galilean  lake. 

Two  massy  keys  he  bore  of  metal  twain, 

(The  golden  apes,  the  iron  shuts  amain). 


THE   RELIGIONS  IN  PALESTINE    133 

He  shook  his  mitered  locks,  and  stern  bespake, 
*  How  well  could  I  have  spared  for  thee,  young 

swain, 
Enow  of  such  as  for  their  bellies'  sake. 
Creep,  and  intrude,  and  climb  into  the  fold ! 
Of  other  care  they  little  reckoning  make, 
Than  how  to  scramble  at  the  shearer's  feast. 
And  shove  away  the  worthy  bidden  guest : 
Blind  mouth!    that  scarce  themselves  know  how 

to  hold 
A  sheep-hook,  or  have  learned  aught  else  the  least 
That  to  the  faithful  herdsman's  art  belongs ! 
What  recks  it  them?     What  need  they?     They 

are  sped: 
And  when  they  list  their  lean  and  flashy  songs 
Grate  on  their  scrannel  pipes  of  wretched  straw: 
The  hungry  sheep  look  up,  and  are  not  fed. 
But  swollen  with  wind,  and  the  rank  mist  they 

draw, 
Eot  inwardly,  and  foul  contagion  spread: 
Besides  what  the  grim  wolf  with  privy  paw 
Daily  devours  apace,  and  nothing  said.' " 

If  Milton  could  witness  the  atrocities 
done  these  poor  Eussians,  he  would  have 
said  more.  When  the  robbery  is  complete, 
the  Eussian  Consul  is  called  upon  to  pay 
for  the  return  passage  of  several  thou- 
sand benighted  pilgrims. 


13dl    WHEN  I  WA8  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

Of  the  Jews  I  shall  not  say  much,  only 
that  they  are  wise  and  biding  their  time. 
Conditions  not  of  the  best  are  engendered 
among  them,  on  account  of  the  alms  sent 
to  them  by  their  brethren  from  all  over 
the  world.  In  spite  of  their  inferior  posi- 
tion the  wiliest  of  them  manage  to  hold 
their  own,  as  the  following  incident  will 
show. 

A  certain  Christian  made  his  living  by 
peddling  olive  oil  to  the  Jews.  He  loaded 
his  oil  on  his  donkey  in  two  **  dhurfs," 
or  sheepskins,  fixed  for  the  purpose.  He 
was  very  arrogant,  and  often  hurt  the 
Jewish  prejudices.  They  could  do  noth- 
ing to  him,  because  his  relatives  were  pow- 
erful and  sure  to  cause  trouble  for  the 
whole  Jewish  colony,  in  case  anything 
befell  him.  One  day  one  of  their  elders 
hailed  him  to  his  house,  apparently  to  buy 
oil.  The  Christian  brought  his  sheepskins 
of  oil  into  the  house.  The  Jew  asked  him 
to  open  one  so  that  he  could  taste,  and 
judge  the  quality  of  the  oil.    He  tasted  it, 


TEE  RELIGIONS  IN  PALESTINE    135 

and  asked  the  man  to  hold  the  mouth  of  the 
dhurf  with  his  hand.  He  then  opened  the 
other  dhurf  to  taste  its  contents  and  asked 
the  Christian  again  to  hold  the  mouth  of 
the  second  dhurf,  while  he  went  inside, 
apparently  to  get  the  money,  as  he  seemed 
pleased  with  the  oil.  On  his  return,  how- 
ever, he  had  an  ugly  club,  and  a  few  other 
Jews  with  clubs  were  with  him.  The  Jews 
had  closed  the  doors  to  prevent  interrup- 
tion, and  they  proceeded  to  beat  the  Chris- 
tian. He  could  not  leave  the  dhurfs,  be- 
cause the  oil  would  spill,  and  his  loss  would 
be  great,  so  he  was  at  their  mercy.  After 
the  beating  he  was  allowed  to  go,  and  he 
became  a  different  man  thereafter. 


CHAPTER   XII 

EEMINDEBS   OF   BIBLE   TIMES 

Palestine  is  a  veritable  land  of  memories. 
It  was  the  principal  theatre  of  Biblical 
history.  The  old  boundaries  still  limit  it; 
it  extends  from  Dan  in  the  north  to  Beer- 
sheba  in  the  south;  from  the  Jordan  on 
the  east  to  the  Great  or  Mediterranean  Sea 
on  the  west.  It  has  to-day  the  same  moun- 
tains and  hills,  the  same  trees  and  plants, 
the  same  wild  and  domestic  animals,  that 
it  had  thousands  of  years  ago.  Even  the 
people  are  the  same  to-day  as  they  were 
in  olden  times.  Civilization  moves  on 
with  its  inventions ;  literatures  are  made ; 
conquerors  come  and  go;  the  world  is 
transformed ;  but  Palestine  never  changes. 
The  statement  may  be  made  that  the  Pal- 
estine of  to-day  is  the  same  as  the  Pales- 
tine of  two  thousand  years  ago,  and  even 
136 


REMINDERS   OF   BIBLE    TIMES    137 

before.  For  this  reason  the  study  of  Pal- 
estine is  a  recognized  aid  to  the  better 
understanding  of  the  Bible. 

Every  saint  may  claim  a  shrine  in  Pales- 
tine, and  then  many  will  be  left  over  for 
the  non-saints.  Such  is  the  amazing  num- 
ber of  holy  places  that  tourists  weary  of 
looking  at  them  and  hearing  stories  about 
them.  There  are  a  few,  however,  which 
are  exceedingly  interesting,  —  spots  ven- 
erated by  devout  Christians  during  many 
centuries,  and  consecrated  by  pious  mem- 
ories of  many  generations.  And  although 
indicated  by  tradition  only,  which  in  most 
cases  cannot  be  precisely  verified,  and  may 
even  be  rendered  doubtful  by  scientific  in- 
quiry, these  places  still  have  a  charm  for 
us,  for  what  spot  in  the  little  land  could 
have  escaped  being  hallowed  by  some  inci- 
dent, recorded  or  forgotten?  Thus  the 
country,  the  people,  even  the  very  atmos- 
phere, remind  us  of  Biblical  things. 

One  of  the  most  ancient  of  these  places 
is  Beyteen,  or  Bethel,  only  twelve  miles 


138    WHEN  1  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

nortti  of  Jerusalem.  From  the  surromid- 
ing  heights  of  Bethel  one  sees  the  same 
view  that  Abraham  and  Lot  saw,  when 
they  divided  the  pasture  land  between 
them.  Near  by  is  the  fountain  where  the 
cattle  of  Abraham  used  to  drink,  and  to- 
day shepherds  may  be  seen  there  at  noon- 
time, leading  their  sheep  to  water.  A 
shepherd  draws  the  water  in  leather  buck- 
ets and  empties  it  into  the  **  miki,"  a  ves- 
sel made  by  carving  a  hole  in  a  rock.  The 
sheep  drink  and  are  satisfied.  Then  the 
thoughtful  shepherd  takes  them  to  the 
moist  valley,  on  the  shady  side  of  the 
mountain  (Psalms  xxiii),  where  he  spends 
his  time,  and,  incidentally,  entertains  his 
flock,  playing  on  a  reed  flute.  He  carries 
a  long  oaken  staff  and  a  leather  pouch, 
or  ^*  jirab." 

At  this  very  place  Jacob  dreamed  of  the 
ladder  reaching  heaven.  Eound  the  Dead 
Sea  in  the  distance  are  traces  of  the  sul- 
phurous and  bituminous  elements  which 
destroyed  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.    A  little 


REMINDERS    OF   BIBLE    TIMES    139 

way  from  tMs  same  spot  is  Dothan,  a  little 
mound,  where  Joseph  was  sold  by  his 
brothers  to  the  Arabian  Caravan  on  its 
way  to  Egypt.  Ai  and  Shiloh  are  only  a 
few  miles  away.  A  few  hours'  ride  from 
Bethel  is  Mizpah,  on  its  commanding  hill, 
where  Saul  was  made  king  of  Israel.  Thus 
we  find  that,  wherever  we  go,  we  behold 
places  and  scenes  consecrated  by  the  rec- 
ords of  the  Old  Testament. 

Places  of  the  New  Testament,  too,  may 
be  identified  and  visited.  First  there  is 
Nazareth  with  its  fields,  where  Chri^  must 
have  walked  and  played  every  day  during 
his  childhood.  Then  there  are  the  places 
of  his  baptism  by  John  and  of  his  tempta- 
tion. Nevertheless,  the  greatest  help  and 
inspiration  are  to  be  obtained  from  the 
study  of  the  people  and  their  customs. 

A  study  of  a  man's  work  in  the  field  is 
interesting,  so  let  us  accompany  the  farmer 
to  the  fields  early  in  the  morning.  He  has 
a  little  donkey  loaded  with  the  plow  and 
the  seed-bags,  and  when  he  reaches  the 


140    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

place  where  the  plowing  is  to  be  done,  he 
unloads  the  donkey,  and  turns  him  loose 
to  feed  on  the  grass.  The  men  throw 
aside  their  **  abi,"  or  outer  coats.  Then, 
taking  one  of  the  bags,  the  sower  scatters 
the  seed  broadcast  by  the  handful,  trying 
to  spread  it  as  evenly  as  possible.  The 
oxen  are  now  yoked  to  the  plow,  and  the 
men  begin  (Matthew  xiii:3)  turning  the 
soil  over  in  an  effort  to  cover  the  seed. 
The  plow  used  is  a  wooden  affair,  reen- 
f  orced  by  a  spike-like  iron ;  it  does  not  run 
deep,  but  merely  scratches  the  surface.  It 
may  be  the  same  as  the  implement  used  in 
Palestine  in  ancient  years,  for  it  is  very 
primitive  compared  to  the  plow  of  the 
American  farmer. 

Methods  of  harvesting  are  also  similar 
to  those  of  Bible  days,  and  the  whole  Book 
of  Euth  may  be  seen  reenacted  in  the  fields, 
on  any  hot  harvest  day,  as  men  and  women 
wield  their  circular  scythes  among  the 
stalks  of  the  corn.  One  of  the  delicious 
eatables   of  harvesters   is   parched   corn 


Harvesters. 

Harvest  comes  in  the  spring  months ;  first  the  barley,  then  the  wheat. 

Threshing  the  grain  under  the  open  sky  and  storing  in  bins 

keeps  the  people  busy  until  late  in  June. 


REMINDERS   OF   BIBLE   TIMES    141 

(wheat)  (EuthiiiM  —  Joshua  v:  11).  It 
is  called  **  freekeh.''  Just  before  the  ker- 
nel hardens,  the  ears  of  wheat  are  mixed 
with  thin  *  *  natish, ' '  or  brush,  and  burned. 
The  fire  thus  obtained  is  not  a  hot  one, 
and  the  wheat  is  smoked  and  slightly 
cooked.  The  husks  are  then  rubbed  from 
the  kernel  with  the  hands,  and  it  is  ready 
to  eat.  The  fields  are  never  harvested  but 
once,  and  anything  that  may  be  left  is  free 
to  any  one  who  gathers  it.  Donkeys  loaded, 
or  rather,  covered,  with  the  sheaves,  pre- 
sent a  very  amusing  spectacle ;  only  their 
hoofs  and  extremely  long  ears  are  left  in 
sight. 

The  wheat,  stalks  and  all,  is  taken  to  the 
threshing-floor,  and  there  spread  in  a 
round  bed,  and  the  cattle,  roughly  shod, 
are  driven  over  it.  This  process  is  con- 
tinued until  it  is  ground  very  fine;  then 
it  is  thrown  by  crude  wooden  forks  into 
the  air.  The  wheat  settles  down,  while 
the  chaif  is  scattered.  These  are  the  same 
methods  that  were  pursued  in  Bible  times. 


142    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY.  IN  PALESTINE 

I  have  already  described  the  mill,  and 
how  the  women  turn  it  to  grind  the  wheat. 
When  we  think  of  mills  as  they  are  in 
America,  we  cannot  see  any  meaning  in 
Christ  ^s  lesson  ahont  the  women  at  the 
mill.  Think  of  two  women  turning  a  mill 
here !  But,  *  *  One  is  taken,  and  the  other 
is  left,"  can  happen  in  Palestine. 

Another  thing  that  throws  a  further  side- 
light on  the  Bible  is  the  language  and  the 
terminology  of  the  people.  The  language 
of  the  Bible,  especially  of  its  poets  and 
prophets,  abounds  in  figures  of  speech  that 
may  be  understood  only  after  an  Oriental 
light  is  thrown  upon  them.  In  the  Bible, 
for  example,  the  name  of  one  thing  is  often 
applied  to  another.  The  temple  is  called 
'^  Lebanon  "  (Zechariah  xi:l),  because  it 
was  built  of  cedar  from  the  forest  of  Leb- 
anon. Tribes  go  by  the  name  of  their 
ancestor:  *^  Israel  "  and  **  Moab  "  may 
therefore  be  encountered  in  the  Bible, 
sometimes  meaning  the  man,  sometimes 
meaning  the  tribe  or  nation.    A  testimony 


REMINDERS   OF  BIBLE    TIMES    143 

is  called  '^  mouth  "  (Deuteronomy  xvii:  6) 
and  speech  '^  tongue  ''  (Proverbs  xxv:  15). 
Wisdom  and  knowledge  are  called  ^*  sta- 
bility''  (Isaiah  xxxiii:6)  because  they 
produce  it.  Such  cases  are  often  repeated 
in  Palestine  idioms  to-day,  and  a  little 
study  of  them  will  dispel  all  chances  of 
misinterpreting  Bible  words.  A  man  in 
Palestine  is  often  known  by  a  surname 
which  is  really  nothing  but  an  adjective 
relating  him  to  his  town.  Dar  il-Ajlony, 
for  instance,  is  a  name  of  a  family  that 
originally  came  from  Ajlone.  A  man  may 
be  called  by  his  eldest  son's  name  with  the 
prefix  **  abu,"  father,  often  to  the  complete 
oblivion  of  his  own  name.  Abu-Yacoub 
and  Abu-Hanna  are  examples.  Sometimes 
both  of  these  methods  may  be  used  in 
naming  a  tribe  or  a  family,  as  Dar  Abu- 
Jugub. 

A  study  of  the  Bible  will  also  reveal  a 
tendency,  which  is  often  misleading  to 
Western  nations,  to  use  sweeping  words 
instead  of  restricting  ones.    Thus  '*  all  " 


lU    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

is  often  used  when  *^  many  ''  is  meant 
(Matthew  iii:5).  The  Eoman  Empire  is 
spoken  of  as  the  world  or  earth  (Luke 
ii :  1) .  When  *  ^  for  a  long  time  '  ^  is  meant, 
**  forever  "  is  sometimes  used  (Daniel 
ii :  4).  God  is  represented  as  a  father,  with 
all  the  attributes  of  a  human  being.  Such 
cases  are  very  numerous  in  the  Bible.  In 
order  fully  to  understand  the  reasons  for 
these  usages,  one  must  study  the  workings 
of  the  peasant's  brain  and  the  psychology 
of  his  surroundings. 

It  is  a  surprise  to  know  that  God  has 
over  three  hundred  names  in  Arabic.  The 
sword  and  the  lion  have  also  an  amazing 
multiplicity  of  names.  It  is  in  the  nature 
of  the  Oriental  not  to  be  exact  in  his  words 
and  definitions:  when  he  says  ^*  rijil  " 
(foot),  he  may  also  mean  leg,  or  when  he 
says  *'  yad  "  (hand),  he  may  include  the 
arm.  The  Bible  was  written  by  men  whose 
terminology  did  not  differ,  in  essence,  from 
that  of  the  Palestine  peasant  of  to-day.  I 
could  cite  innumerable  cases  where  one 


BEMINDERS   OF   BIBLE   TIMES    145 

word  is  used  in  place  of  another.  Exag- 
geration is  the  chief  note  in  Oriental  litera- 
ture. Its  writers  wander  into  the  realms 
of  magic  and  the  impossible,  and  most 
Oriental  works  that  have  struck  the  West- 
erners' fancy,  are  of  this  kind.  The  *' Ara- 
bian Nights,"  including  the  stories  of 
''  Sindbad  the  Sailor  ''  and  "  Aladdin's 
Wonderful  Lamp  "  are  all  fanciful  de- 
scriptions of  exaggerated  circumstances. 

Another  thing  that  may  help  us  to  a 
better  understanding  of  the  Bible  is  the 
study  of  a  peasant's  mind  in  his  relations 
to  God.  The  Book  of  Job  is  a  debate  be- 
tween Job  and  his  three  friends,  —  Eli- 
phaz,  Bildad,  and  Zophar.  The  question 
debated  is  whether  remarkable  judgments 
or  punishments  are  proof  of  the  wicked- 
ness of  those  upon  whom  they  are  inflicted. 
Job  is  '^  not  guilty,"  and  tries  to  tell  his 
friends  so.  But  they  take  the  affirmative 
side  of  the  argument,  and  try  to  prove  that 
Job  must  have  sinned,  else  why  all  this 
punishment   and  extraordinary  calamity. 


146    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

Now  this  attitude  of  Job's  friends  is  the 
exact  belief  of  the  peasant.  I  know  of  one 
family  that  had  grossly  wronged  another 
mysteriously.  Every  one  knew  of  their 
guilt,  but  they  could  not  prove  it,  so  they 
waited  for  God  to  prove  it.  Within  six 
months  the  eldest  son  of  the  family  died, 
and  two  years  later  another  son  died. 
The  people  took  these  calamities  as  signs 
of  the  family's  guilt.  This,  in  a  measure, 
explains  the  incidents  of  the  Bible  in  which 
punishment  is  meted  out  during  the  life- 
time of  the  guilty  one.  Moses  sinned,  and 
the  recorder  of  his  life,  as  a  warning 
against  sin,  concludes  that  God  forbade 
him  to  see  the  Holy  Land  as  a  punishment. 
Because  Saul  terrorized  David,  he  lost  his 
mind,  and  later  he  forfeited  his  family's 
right  to  the  kingship. 

Sacrificial  offerings  are  not  practised  to- 
day in  Palestine,  but  devout  persons  volun- 
tarily assign  to  God  certain  of  their  choice 
crops.  I  know  of  a  father  who,  having  had 
three  baby  boys  die,  one  after  the  other, 


REMINDERS   OF   BIBLE    TIMES    147 

vowed  if  the  next  baby  sbould  live,  he 
would  give  a  considerable  amount  of  oil  to 
be  used  for  lighting  purposes  in  the  church. 
If  a  beloved  son  is  extremely  sick,  the 
mother  vows  to  burn  a  candle  in  front  of 
some  saint's  picture  in  the  church.  Tenths 
or  tithes  are  collected  by  'the  government, 
but  these  are  by  no  means  free-will  offer- 
ings. However,  an  offering  to  implore 
mercies,  or  to  ask  deliverance  from  a  peril, 
is  no  less  common  to-day  in  Palestine  than 
it  was  in  Bible  times  (Numbers  xv:l-16y. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

MY  IMPBESSIONS   OF   AMERICA 

I  CAME  to  America  because  I  was  not  sat- 
isfied in  Palestine,  and  wanted  to  finisli  my 
studies.  I  have  already  shown  that  the 
schools  in  Palestine  are  not  what  they 
ought  to  be.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  profes- 
sors and  teachers  are  not  up  to  standard, 
for  I  am  certain  that  they  are.  Some  of 
them  were  graduates  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge Universities,  some  of  American  col- 
leges, and  they  were  well  acquainted  with 
their  subjects  too.  The  chief  obstacle  was 
the  lack  of  text-books  in  the  Arabic  lan- 
guage. Consequently  English  books  had  to 
be  used,  and  since  our  preparation  in  Eng- 
lish had  not  been  very  great,  we  failed  to 
get  the  results.  It  was  an  absurd  state  of 
affairs,  and  I  followed  the  advice  of  the 
proverb,  **  Running  away  is  two-thirds  of 

148 


MY  IMPRESSIONS   OF  AMERICA    149 

valor/'  and  left  after  having  spent  only 
one  year  at  the  college  in  Jerusalem. 

I  had  my  first  train  ride  on  the  trip  to 
Jaffa,  whence  I  embarked  for  Egypt, 
France,  England,  and  eventually  America. 
I  landed  in  Philadelphia  when  I  was  ex- 
actly sixteen  years  old.  My  purpose  was 
to  go  to  school,  but  not  having  the  funds, 
I  had  to  wait.  After  working  one  year,  I 
entered  a  leading  preparatory  school  in 
the  State  of  Maine. 

My  studies  there  were  much  easier  than 
play,  although  at  one  time  I  '*  carried  " 
twenty-seven  points.  I  enjoyed  American 
teaching  methods;  the  system  is  regular 
and  suitable  for  the  average  boy.  One 
thing  that  noticeably  bothered  me  for  a 
time,  however,  was  working  under  women 
teachers ;  I  was  not  used  to  it,  and  did  not 
like  it  at  first. 

At  school  the  game  that  interested  me 
most  was  football.  I  played  both  at  pre- 
paratory school  and  at  college  in  this  coun- 
try, and  I  think  it  is  the  best  athletic  sport 


150    WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

ever  invented.  It  is  a  good  man's  game, 
where  brain  and  brawn  combine  to  pro- 
duce the  most  thrilling  feeling  possible 
outside  of  actual  warfare.  I  shall  try 
to  introduce  it  in  Palestine. 

I  enjoyed  track  and  field  work,  too.  Run- 
ning was  no  new  thing  to  me.  Many  were 
the  times  at  home  that  I  had  been  chased, 
even  for  miles,  by  some  **  enemy."  Every- 
thing that  savored  of  competition  was  my 
hobby.  Even  debating  at  the  Literary 
Society  interested  me,  since  Oak  Grove,  an 
ideal  school,  had  a  good  debating  club. 

In  the  winter  I  indulged  in  coasting,  and 
to  leave  nothing  untried,  I  put  on  a  pair 
of  skates,  and  went  to  the  river  for  skating. 
This  was  the  hardest  thing  to  master,  al- 
most harder  than  the  ice,  which,  I  had  con- 
crete reasons  to  find,  was  extremely  hard. 
Forests  and  woods  in  their  wild  condition 
were  new  to  me,  and  many  are  the  miles 
I  have  walked,  knee-deep  in  the  snow, 
through  the  dense  Maine  woods.  Ameri- 
can life  fascinates  me. 


MY  IMPRESSIONS   OF  AMERICA    151 

Although  it  came  a  little  bit  harder  than 
at  school,  college  football  was  none  the  less 
enjoyable  for  me.  I  also  liked  to  watch 
baseball  and  football.  It  seems  to  me  that 
baseball  is  the  American  game:  not  only 
on  the  field,  but  in  all  their  dealing,  do  the 
Americans  play  baseball.  They  have  a 
highly  developed  system  of  opportunism. 
If  a  man  is  *^  there  with  the  hit,''  he  gets 
what  he  is  after.  But  he  must  also  be  in 
time  to  score.    This  is  American  life. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  kind  of  life 
would  be  extremely  desirable,  if  it  did  not 
tend  to  develop  a  few  **  grandstand  "  stars 
who  play  the  leading  roles  in  this  country's 
arena.  It  is  a  great  country.  It  is  a  mira- 
cle. But  look  at  the  brainy  few  who 
manipulate  its  millions,  too  few,  almost, 
for  the  comfort  of  the  other  actors  and 
builders  in  this  nation.  Its  politics  im- 
pressed me  much  the  same  as  a  ball  game. 
For  it  is  an  advertising  game:  not  what 
an  official  does,  but  what  he  makes  the 
people  think  he  does,  gets  the  credit  and 


152    WEEN  I  WAS  A  BOY  IN  PALESTINE 

the  vote.  This  is  not  said  in  the  spirit  of 
criticism ;  there  are  enough  muckrakers  to 
tear  a  candidate's  records  to  pieces,  and 
to  get  at  the  truth.  I  am  merely  stating 
an  impression.  Good  men,  with  good  in- 
tentions and  sound  minds,  founded  this 
country  on  solid  principles,  and  there  is 
not,  or  need  not  be,  any  doubt  but  that  the 
nation  will  ultimately  approach  the  ideal. 


THE   END. 


CHILDREN  OF  OTHER  LANDS  SERIES 

WHEN  I  WAS  A  BOY 
IN  JAPAN 

By  SAKAE  SHIOYA    Illustrated 

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THE  author  came  to  America  in  1901, 
received  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  at 
the  University  of  Chicago,  and  took  a  two 
years'  post  graduate  course  at  Yale  before 
returning  to  Japan.  No  one  could  be  better 
qualified  to  introduce  the  Japanese  to  those 
in  America,  and  he  has  done  it  in  a  way  that 
will  deUght  both  children  and  parents. 

WHEN   I   WAS  A  GIRL   IN   ITALY 

By  MARIETTA  AMBROSl    I2mo    Cloth    Illustrated    $.75 

THE  author  was  born  in  Tyrol,  having  an  American-born  mother  of 
Italian  descent,  and  a  Veronese  father,  and  her  entire  girlhood  was 
spent  in  Brescia  and  other  cities  of  Northern  Italy.  Her  story  gives  a 
most  graphic  account  of  the  industries,  social  customs,  dress,  pleasures, 
and  religious  observances  of  the  Italian  common  people. 

WHEN   I   WAS  A   BOY   IN  CHINA 

By  VAN  PHOU  LEE    12mo    Cloth    Illustrated 
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YAN  PHOU  LEE  was  one  of  the  young  men  sent  to  this  country  to 
be   educated  and   matriculated   at   Yale,    where  he  graduated  with 
honor.     This  book  embodies  his  recollections  of  his  native  country. 


WHEN   I   WAS  A  BOY  IN 

By  QBORQB  DfiMETRIOS    Illustrated 
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A  GRAPHIC  account  is  given  of  the  country  and  its  customs,  with  the 
home  and  school  life,  tasks  and  pleasures,  of  a  real  boy  in  a  land 
strange  to  us.  Naturally,  much  is  said  of  relations  with  the  Turks,  and 
the  book  has  peculiar  importance  from  the  Balkan  War.  The  young 
author  was  compelled  to  witness  very  thrilling  scenes  before  coming  to 
this  land  of  opportunity. 

For  tale  by  all  booksellers  or  seat  postpaid  on  receipt  0/ 
price  by  the  pubiisbers 

LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  CO.,  BOSTON 


Ji  Joy  Of  <i  mu$nm 

years  jfgo 

Bj^K/oiRTBT  Tk  C0]\T.?TOcaC  Large  lama 
Profusely  illuStfated  with  full-page  draw 
ings  and  chapter  headings  by  George 
Varian    $i«oo 

r*  will  at  once  be  understood  that  the 
"boy'*  of  the  story  is  Alfred  the  Great 
in  his  youth,  but  it  cannot  be  understood 
how  delightful  a  story  this  is  until  it  is  see^ 
and  read.  The  splendid  pictures  of  George 
Varian  make  this  book  superior  amcng 
juveniles. 

••  Not  a  boy  lives  who  will  not  enjoy  this  book  thoroughly.  There  is  a  good 
Seal  of  first-class  historical  information  woven  into  the  story,  but  the  best  part  of  it 
is  the  splendid  impression  of  times  and  manners  it  gives  in  old  Kngland  &  thousand 
years  a.go,"—I,ouisvil/e  Courier 'Journal. 

**  Mrs.  Comstock  writes  very  appreciatively  of  Little  Alfred,  who  was  after. 
■W^rd  the  Great,  and  from  mighty  meagre  materials  creates  a  story  that  bangs  tOr 
aether  well.  The  illustrations  lor  this  Tolume  aire  especiaily  beautiful." — Boston 
tiome  Journal, 

Cbe  Story  of  Joan  of  Jlrc  m^mm.% 

Bv  Kate  E.  Carpenter  Illustrated  by 
ii,.MY  Brooks,  also  from  paintings,  and 
with  map    Large  l2mo    Cloth    $i.oo 

THE  favorite  story  of  Joan  of  Arc  is  here 
treated  in  a  uniquely  attractive  way. 
**  Aunt  Kate  '*  tells  the  story  of  Joan  of  Arc 
to  Master  Harold,  aged  li,  and  to  Misses 
Bessie  and  Maijorie,  aged  lo  and  8,  respec- 
tively, to  their  intense  delight.  They  look 
up  places  on  the  map,  and  have  a  fine  time 
while  heading  the  thrilling  story,  told  in  such 
simple  language  that  they  can  readily  under- 
stand it  all.  Parents  and  teachers  \idll  also 
be  greasy  interested  in  this  book  from  an 
csducational  point  of  view. 

•"rhe  tale  is  wsll  told  and  the  children  wiU  deligrfat  in  \x:*  ^Chicago  Po$t. 

"'loid  so  simply  and  clearly  that  youn?  readers  cannot  fail  to  be 
§ac  jpstructed.'"  —  Congregattanalist^  Boston., 


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isy  ttie  publishers, 

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American  Heroes  and  Heroines 


By  Pauline    Carrington    Bouvf     Illustrated 
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THIS  book,  which  will  tend  directly  toward 
the  making  of  patriotism  in  young  Americans, 
contains  some  twenty  brief,  clever  and  attractive 
sketches  of  famous  men  and  women  in  American 
history,  among  them  Father  Marquette,  Anne 
Hutchinson,  Israel  Putnam,  Molly  Pitcher,  Paul 
Jones,  Dolly  Madison,  Daniel  Boone,  etc.  Mrs. 
Bouv^  is  well  known  as  a  writer  both  of  fiction  and 
history,  and  her  work  in  this  case  is  admirable. 

**  The  style  of  the  book  for  simplicity  and  clearness 
of  expression  could  hardly  be  excelled."  —  Boston 
Budget. 

The  Scarlet  Patch 

The  Story  of  a  Patriot  Boy  in  the  Mohawk  Valley 

By  Mary  E.  Q.  Brush  Illustrated  by  George  W.  Picknell  $1.25 
*"T^HE  Scarlet  Patch'*  was  the  badge  of  a  Tory  organization,  and  a 

X  loyal  patriot  boy,  Donald  Bastien,  is  dismayed  at  learning  that  his 
uncle,  with  whom  he  is  a  *' bound  boy,"  is  secretly  connected  with  this 
treacherous  band.  Thrilling  scenes  follow  in  which  a  faithful  Indian 
figures  prominently,  and  there  is  a  vivid  presentation  of  the  school  and 
home  life  as  well  as  the  public  affairs  of  those  times. 

"  A  book  that  will  be  most  valuable  to  the  library  of  the  young  boy." —  Provi' 
dence  News, 

Stories  of  Brave  Old  Times 

Some  Pen   Pictures  of  Scenes  Which 

Took  Place  Previous  to,  or  Connected 

With,  the  American   Revolution 

By  Helen  M.  Cleveland  Profusely  illustra- 
ted Large  i2mo  Cloth  $1.25 
IT  is  a  book  for  every  library,  a  book  for 
adults,  and  a  book  for  the  young.  Per- 
haps no  other  book  yet  written  sets  the  great 
cost  of  freedom  so  clearly  before  the  young, 
consequently  is  such  a  spur  to  patriotism. 

*•  It  can  unqualifiedly  be  commended  as  a  book  for 
youthful  readers;  its  great  wealth  of  illustrations 
adding  to  its  value." —  Chicag-o  News. 


For  sale  by  all  booksellers  or  sent  postpaid  on  receipt  of  price 
by  the  publishers, 

LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  CO.,  BOSTON 


NEXT«NIQHT  STORIES 

By  CLARENCE  JOHNSON  MESSER 

Illustrated  by  L.  J.  Bridgman     12nio    Cloth 
Decorated  Cover      Price,  Net  $1.00      Postpaid,  $1.10 


A  MASTER  hand  at  telling  "animal  stories*' 
holds  the  attention  of  four  bright  children 
so  successfully  that  the  demand  for  a  "next- 
night  story "  cannot  be  denied,  and  twelve  of 
the  finest  stories  since  ** Uncle  Remus'*  and 
Hans  Christian  Andersen  are  in  this  book.  By 
endowing  animals  with  speech  and  causing  them 
to  show  human  emotions,  rich  entertainment  is 
furnished,  and  an  excellent  lesson  of  kindness 
and  duty — not  too  prominent — is  plain  to  see  in 
each  night's  fascinating  disclosure.  The  stories 
in  their  older  are:  The  Proud  and  Foolish 
Peacock;  Tinklebell;  The  Donkey  and  the  Wolf ;  The  Fox,  the  Raccoon, 
and  tlio  Bi-Jir;  TIic  Dwarfs;  The  Frog  Girl;  Granny  Chipmunk's  Lesson j 
The  Horaa  c;nd  the  Hen;  Dandy  Beaver  and  Sippy  Woodchuck;  Sambo 
and  Je.ry;  The  Bird  of  Prey;  The  Hen  That  Ran  Away.  Children  will 
be  -ha-racd  r.nd  grown-ups  will  not  only  be  glad  of  such  fine  material  for 
captivating  young  listeners,  but  will  themselves  be  interested  in  the  skill- 
fully-told tales  and  in  the  pretty,  humorous  connecting  thread  of  incidents 
that  made  the  stories  possible  and  had  such  a  happy  ending. 


"  When  confrorted  by  the  tell-me-a-story  challenge  for  a  hundredth  time  these 
tales  will  prove  a  boon  by  replenishing  your  exhausted  supply.  They  are  models 
of  iheir  hiad."—CArisitan  World,  Cleveland, 

••  Children  will  be  charmed,  and  even  grown-ups  cannot  help  being  interested  in 
the  skilltully-told  tales."— Milwaukee  Free  Press, 

"NEXTNIGHT  STORIES  are  the  kind  that  please  as  well  as  teach  the  ever 
useful  lesson  of  kindness  to  dumb  creatures."— ^«^a/o  Commercial. 

«*  One  need  not  fear  lest  this  volume  will  find  willing  listeners;  the  difficulty 
will  be  to  limit  thtm  to  a  single  siory  a  night." — Troy  Record. 


For  sale  by  alt  bookgelters  or  seat  on  rtceipt  of  postpaid 
price  by  the  publisiiers 

LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  CO.,  BOSTON 


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